Karnataka: Five held for selling sand boa illegally
Madikeri/UNI: The Forest Mobile Squad personnel have arrested five people from Thithimathi, near Chennangoli Bus Stand, here, for trying to sell a Sand Boa snake at Thithimathi in Virajpet taluk, Forest officials confirmed on Friday.
According to the officials, the accused were identified as Mulla Mehaboob Vali (57), Sheik Mulla Chand Pasha (45), S Fayaz (27), Boya Rangaswamy (45) and Sheik Pedda Mehboob Basha (29), all residents of Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh.
They were travelling from Kurnool to Kerala via Mysuru, when the Forest personnel arrested them, besides rescuing the reptile on Thursday.
The snake, which was kept in a red leather bag, is 45 inches in length, weighs 2.8 kg and is eight inches thick.
During interrogation, the accused told the police that they had fixed a price of Rs two crore for the snake and were smuggling it to Kerala.
The Forest Department, which has registered a case under the Wildlife Protection Act, produced the accused before a Court at Ponnampet, which remanded them to judicial custody.
Madikeri CID Forest Mobile Unit Superintendent of Police (SP) supervised the entire operation.
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