By Siraj Khan, Nepalgunj, July 12: Nepalgunj, a city in western Nepal, has recently become a major hub for the smuggling of rare wildlife parts.

Police have been arresting smugglers every week in Nepalgunj with the skin, teeth and bile of different animals, including red panda, tiger, elephant and leopard.

In the last fortnight alone, police have arrested six people with three tiger skins, a red panda skin and four bear bile, said Banke Police Chief and Superintendent of Police (SP) Shyam Krishna Adhikari.

A red panda's skin and the bile of four bears were seized from a hotel at Pushpalal Chowk in Nepalgunj on Saturday night, SP Adhikari informed, adding that ake Nepalgunj and Kohalpur of Banke district were turning into centres for wildlife smuggling.

According to the District Police Office, a large number of people have been arrested from Kohalpur and Nepalgunj in the past with tiger skin, ivory, leopard skin, musk and bear bile.

Police raided Rapti Guest House at Pushpalal Chowk in Nepalgunj Sub-Municipal Ward No. 1 on Saturday night based on information that body parts of protected wildlife were being traded from the hotel and three persons were arrested from Room No. 10 along with the skin of a red panda and the bile of four bears, SP Adhikari said.

Among the arrested are Bhakta Bahadur Pun, Keshav Pun of Dang Ghorahi Sub-Metropolitan City Ward No. 4 and Robin Budha of Shantinagar Rural Municipality Ward 1, according to police.

According to police, four bears were suspected to have killed for smuggling their bile. According to Banke Police Spokesperson Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Madhusudan Neupane, smuggling of valuable parts of the wild animals has increased in the area after the increasing poaching of rare wild animals