Two arrested with red sand boas

MEERUT A team of Bijnor forest officials arrested three smugglers of wild animals and recovered two red sand boas from their possession on Saturday night.

The court of chief Judicial Magistrate in Bijnor sent the arrested smugglers Chand Babu, Moharram Ali and Noor Hasan to jail in 11-day judicial custody. The court ordered to release the boas in their natural habitat.

A team led by sub-divisional officer of the forest department in Bijnor Gyan Singh, along with range officer of Chandpur Vikas Varun and forest guards Praveen Sirohi and Saurabh caught the smugglers on Seohara- Noorpur road in Bijnor on Saturday night.

Two red sand boas, which are listed in Schedule One of the Wildlife Act, were recovered from their possession. During interrogation they said that they were taking the reptiles to Moradabad to sell them at a good price. The buyers use them for making painkiller oil, medicine to cure paralysis and in performing ‘ black magic’.

SDO Gyan Singh said that the arrested smugglers had shared some vital clues and effort was on to expose the network of people involved in sale and purchase of wild animals.

Singh said that a case under Sections 2/9/39/51(1) of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and Section 41/42 of Indian Forest Act, 1927 had been registered against the smugglers.