Berhampur: Forest officials in Gajapati district on Friday arrested six people allegedly for illegal possession of leopard skins. They seized two skins during raids conducted over the past two days.Three motorcycles and six mobile phones were also seized from the accused, said Paralakhemundi divisional forest officer (DFO) Nagaraju K on Friday.Acting on a tip-off, a team led by assistant conservator of forests Shine Shree Dash conducted a raid near Paralakhemundi bus stand on Thursday and apprehended G Rabi (40) of Hadubhangi and Prafulla Ghanta (42) of Parida village under Kashinagar police limits. A leopard skin was seized from them while they were allegedly negotiating its sale, the DFO said.On Friday, forest officials raided Tulasi Nagar under the Mohana forest range following information about wildlife contraband trade. During the operation, they seized another leopard skin and arrested four people — Jaga Mallick (36), Bijaya Nanda Nayak (23) and Deepak Kumar Nayak (25) of Daringbadi in Kandhamal district, and Trilochan Patra (35) of Paniganda under Adava police limits in Gajapati district.Officials said further investigation is underway to trace the source of the leopard skins and identify the intended buyers and possible links to a wider wildlife trafficking network.