Animal skin traps BPO staffer

A haul of narcotic drugs — that is what officials from the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of Mumbai police were prepared for when they laid a trap for BPO worker Shadab Patel, 25, last week. They ended up seizing the skin of a leopard cat — a rare species — instead.

Shadab, employee with a leading BPO in the western suburbs, is a resident of Santacruz and has had professional stints in countries like South Africa, Tanzania and Saudi Arabia.

On February 11, acting on a tip-off that some youngsters were going to deliver a drug consignment at Hanuman Tekdi locality in Vakola, officials from ANC’s Bandra unit had  been on vigil. Patel sauntered in at 11.15pm with a sack bag slung across his shoulders. As the ANC officials in plain clothes zeroed in on him, he made a futile bid to flee.

But the real surprise awaited them here. “We thought he would be carrying some drug in the sack bag. But when we opened it, we found the skin of a leopard-like animal wrapped in a paper,’’ said ANC inspector Mrityunjay Hiremath. Stretched out, the skin measured around 52 inches, he added.

On being grilled, Patel said he and his friends were trying to sell the skin. His share of the proceeds would have been Rs3 lakh. “He wanted to go to London with the money and find work,’’ said Hiremath.

Patel was handed over to the Vakola police where he was booked under the Wildlife Act. It is suspected that he smuggled the skin from a foreign country on his way to India. The police have started looking for his friends, also BPO employees.

Experts value the skin at anything between Rs2 lakh and Rs7 lakh, but sources say Patel had fixed his selling price at the upper limit.