ISLAMABAD: The capital police have registered a first information report (FIR) against a software engineer for selling a leopard skin which is prohibited under the law.

While the Islamabad Wildlife Protection Act 1979 prohibits capturing leopards, hunting, trading in their parts such as bones, skins and its meat, 31-year-old Saadul Hassan was found possessing the item.

He sold it to undercover field officers from the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) for Rs80,000.

The field supervisors came across an online advertisement about the leopard pelt being sold in Mansehra and decided to conduct an operation.

Undercover wildlife dept officials made a deal with the man in Mansehra, arrested him after he came to capital to receive the amount

“We made contact. The seller claimed to have seven to eight leopard pelts. This means a significant percentage of leopards have vanished from our country,” IWMB field supervisor Zaheer Khan told Dawn.

He and another official pretending to be buyers rendezvoused with Saadul Hassan who acted as the middle man and took them to Mansehra.

“We were then driven to Ughi, about 30km from Mansehra, on broken roads to a house where we saw some 200 to 250 scorpions, skins of leopard cats and the leopard skin we were being sold. That was not all. There were two more leopard skins with the head and claws attached. They seemed to have been recently killed,” said Mr Khan.

He returned to Islamabad after agreeing to Rs80,000 as the final price for the pelt and paying Rs15,000 in advance.

The IWMB teams apprehend Mr Hassan who came to Islamabad to collect the remaining sum.

“I know it is illegal to hunt leopards. But the animal was dead and I know the rich in Islamabad are willing to pay handsome amounts for leopard pelts,” Mr Hassan, who holds a masters in information technology from Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, told Dawn.

A resident of Abbottabad, Mr Hassan has applied for vacancies announced by the provincial government in the forest department. Passionate about working against cybercrime, the father of two little girls had also applied for a position in the cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

“God forbid that such individuals are ever entrusted with the lives of people and animals. He was well aware that he committed a crime when he advertised on the internet to sell an endangered animal’s skin,” said IWMB Assistant Director Mohammad Fahim.

The sellers have two other pelts of common leopards and had agreed to sell them for Rs200,000 each with the head and claws still attached.

IWMB Chairman Dr Anis Rehman told Dawn that his team had been pursuing illegal traders in endangered animals. This arrest was made as a result of a risky operation conducted by the staff of IWMB.

According to the IWMB, leopards that are at risk of extinction in Pakistan are possibly killed in forests of Nathiagali and Ayubia.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2019