A Nepalese national suspected to be engaged in poaching and smuggling of wild animal parts was apprehended by the Sashastra Seema Bal on the India-Nepal border late on Monday evening after a slew of wild animal parts were recovered from him.

Sources said Dambar Sapkota, a resident of Ukhaldhunga of Nepal, was nabbed by
the personnel of the 41st battalion of the SSB while he was returning to his homeland from India. After recovering the items from him, Sapkota was handed over to the foresters of the Kurseong forest division.

“He was carrying a skull with horns of a red serow, which is an endangered
species. Also, spikes of porcupine, bones of snakes, antlers of barking deer with a
skull were recovered from him,” said Devesh Pandey, the divisional forest officer of
Kurseong.

The red serow is a goat-antelope found in northeastern parts of India, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

The foresters suspect that Sapkota is associated with a racket that is engaged in poaching and smuggling of wild animal parts.

“We need to know how Sapkota managed to procure all this stuff and whether he is involved with a wildlife trafficking racket,” Pandey said.

During the preliminary interrogation, Sapkota claimed that he is a shaman — a person regarded as having access to and influence in the world of good and evil spirits — and had been to Rangpo in Sikkim about a month ago to treat a person.

“The items he was carrying are used for traditional treatments, Sapkota claimed,” said the forester.