10 August,2026 07:14 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
A case has been registered against the accused under relevant Sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Pic/ Special Arrangement
In a crackdown on wildlife trafficking, Dongri Police in Mumbai detained a Tardeo resident on Sunday for allegedly attempting to sell the skin of a leopard, a protected species under Indian wildlife law, recovering the pelt.
Acting on credible intelligence that a man was en route to sell a leopard skin within its jurisdiction, Dongri Police Station swung into action.
A team led by Police Inspector Balasaheb Kanwade, comprising Police Sub-Inspector Sunil Randive, Police Havaldar Vishal Sonawane, and Police Constable Suraj Dhaygude, verified the tip and executed a carefully planned operation.
On Sunday, the team intercepted and detained Nikhil Sonawane, a resident of Tardeo, Mumbai.
Police recovered a leopard-skin-like item from Sonawane's possession, weighing approximately 2.5 kg.
Forest Department officials and wildlife experts have been roped in to confirm the exact species and determine its official valuation.
A case has been registered against the accused under relevant Sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Sub-Inspector Sunil Randive is leading further investigation.
Police are now working to trace the source of the leopard skin, identify others potentially involved in its sale or purchase, verify whether any financial transaction was completed, and determine if the accused is linked to a larger wildlife trafficking network.
In a similar incident last week, Forest Department officials and Mumbai Police raided a flat in Andheri East following a tip-off and rescued an exotic ball python kept in a glass enclosure on the balcony.
The forest department registered a wildlife crime case (WL-04/2026) on August 3 against the accused, Shubham Santosh Rahate, and launched an investigation.
Range Forest Officer Santosh Dagale said a joint team from the territorial division and Andheri police found Rahate keeping the exotic snake in captivity. Rahate claimed to have owned the python for eight years but could not produce the required documentation to legally possess an exotic species as a pet.
Investigators are now probing how he obtained the snake.
A neighbour said residents were unaware a python was being kept in the flat until police and forest officials arrived around 5:30 pm and went to the eighth-floor apartment, where the snake was seized.
The ball python is one of 10 species in the genus Python, part of the Pythonidae family of constricting snakes, and is native to the grasslands, savannas, and open woodlands of West and Central Africa.
