Forest department officials seized 479 pairs of leopard claws from three persons in the temple town of Guruvayur near here.
Acting on a tip off, a team of officials took them into custody from near an auditorium with the claws yesterday.
"We have acted on a tip off from forest intelligence that a gang was trying to sell leopard claws in the city. The arrested persons were under the surveillance of the intelligence wing for some time," Flying Squad DFO (Ernakulam) N Rajesh, told PTI today.
The arrested were identified as P K Ajithan, Hameed and B Pushpan.
"During the initial interrogation, they said they bought this from Sudan. Later, they changed their version saying that they got the claws from tribal communities in Mysore. A clear picture will get only after detailed questioning," he said.
Sale of leopard claws is banned globally.
