Customs nab 4 with leopard skins

Kolhapur: A targeted operation by the Ratnagiri Customs in the early hours of Saturday led to the arrest of four men who were trying to sell leopard skins.The accused — Sheikh Nasruddin Habib from Latur, Vijay Vishnu Jamdade from Satara, Sameer Tatu Tejam and Rakesh Ramesh Bandekar (both from Kudal) — were arrested from Shiroli MIDC on Pune-Bengaluru national highway.According to the officials, the accused were travelling in two vehicles. When they stopped the first vehicle, the occupants managed to flee. However, one of the accused was left behind with a bag containing one leopard skin. When the second vehicle was stopped, another skin was recovered three others were arrested."The accused were presented in a local court in Vadgaon and have been remanded in police custody till April 8. The court has further directed that the seized leopard skins be handed over to the forest department for further investigation and necessary action should be taken under the provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972," Sundeep Krishna, assistant commissioner of customs (Ratnagiri division) said.