The Pune anti-terrorism squad (PATC) cell of the city police arrested three persons for alleged involvement in selling leopard skin on Tuesday afternoon.
The arrested have been identified as Mahendra Shivaji Donhe (25) of Janta Vasahat, Dipak Hastabhadur Dhami (29) of Kothrud and Nilesh Eknathg Dhadwe (24) of Wadgaon Budruk.
Acting on a tip-off received from police constable Dipak Mate, a team lead by senior police inspector Sunil Tambe laid a trap near Fergusson College and arrested the suspects with the skin.
Tambe said, “Dhami, the mastermind, may have brought the skin from Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh. He kept the skin in his room for about eight months. On Tuesday noon, he came to sell the skin at Rs5 lakh. However, the receiver did not turn up. We are yet to nab the receiver.”
Constables Appa Gaikwad, Sandip Gaikwad, Suhas Kadam, Sachin Gavali, Kashinath Kolekar, Kiran Khude, Sharad Jadhav and Ganesh Koli were involved in the operation.
