DRI's Nagpur unit nabs three from MP with leopard skin, head in trophy form

The Nagpur Regional Unit of Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized leopard skin and head in trophy from allegedly from three persons in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, an official said on Saturday.

A trophy refers to the durable part of a wild animal, such as the head, horn, tusk, skin, claws etc that is preserved through taxidermy and kept as a memento of a hunt.

Leopards are listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, prohibiting the trade, sale, purchase, or possession of their skins or parts.

''The three were held from a hotel in the MP capital on a tip off. They have been handed over to the forest department in Bhopal for further action,'' the official said.

The DRI Nagpur Region Unit is part of the organisation's Mumbai Zone.

The operation adds to DRI Mumbai's past track record in combating wildlife crime, the official said.

In May 2025, DRI seized two leopard skins (in trophy form) and one ivory (wild boar tooth) in Ujjain and Maharashtra. ''In July 2025, it intercepted six individuals involved in the killing of a tiger cub by electrocution at Seoni, Madhya Pradesh. We recovered nine tiger nails, 61 tiger bones, and the cub's partially decomposed carcass. In August 2025, two leopard skins were seized in Rayagada, Orissa with the arrest of four persons,'' he said.