6 KILOS 800 GRAMS OF SKINS OF PANGOLIN WORTH ABOUT Rs. 2.10 CRORE RECOVERED, THREE SMUGGLERS ARRESTED

6 KILOS 800 GRAMS OF SKINS OF PANGOLIN WORTH ABOUT Rs. 2.10 CRORE RECOVERED, THREE SMUGGLERS ARRESTED

16-JAN-ENG 1

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

SASARAM----------------------------On the information of Wild Life Crime Bureau, a team of Forest Department under the leadership of the Range Officer, Abhay Kumar, 2 kilo 800 grams of skins of Pangolin was recovered from near a Petrol Pump at Morwa village under Shivsagar police station and arrested two smugglers. The arrested smugglers were identified as Raj Kumar son of Ayodhya Ram of Hat Pokhar village under Jagdishpur police station and Om Prakash Singh son of Suraj Singh of Sarana village under Shahpur police station in Bhojpur district. On their revelation, a team of the Forest Department arrested the third smugger Jagat Ram son of Chamri Ram from Dobhi in Gaya in Bihar and recovered 4 kilograms of skin of Pangolin from him. He is a resident of Dariyatu village under Chatara police station in Jharkhand. The officials of the Forest Department thus recovered 6 kilos and 800 grams of skins of Pangolin worth about Rs. 2.10 crore in the International market. A named FIR was lodged with the police in this regard and later they were sent to jail after interrogation.

Meanwhile, one of the smugglers, Raj Kumar applied for bail but the Additional District and Session Judge , Sasaram Civil Court, Dhirendra Kumar Mishra rejected his bail petition. The court had already rejected bail petitions of Om Prakash Singh and Jagat Ram in this regard.

Special Public Prosecutor Deepak Kumar Rai said that on the information of the Wild Life Crime Bureau, a team of the Forest Department under the leadership of the Forest Ranger Abhay Kumar, seized 2 kilos and 800 grams of skins of Pangolin from near a petrol pump at Moriya village under Shivsagar police station in Rohtas district and later 4 kilos of skins from Dobhi in Gaya. The team also arrested three smugglers in this regard.

It may be said here that Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order of Pholidota. The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: Manis, Phataginus. Though many considered it as reptiles, Pangolins are actually mammals. They are the only mammals wholly-covered in scales and they use those scales to protect themselves from predators in the wild. If under threat, a Pangolin will immediately curl into a tight ball and will use their sharp-scaled tails to defend themselves. Pangolins eat ants, termites and larvae and are often known as “the scaly anteater.” Because they have no teeth, Pangolins pick up food with their sticky tongues which can sometimes reach lengths greater than the animal’s body. Pangolins certainly are one of the most trafficked mammals in Asia and increasingly Africa. They are in high demand in countries like China and Vietnam. Their meat is considered a delicacy and their scales are used in traditional medicines and folk remedies. All eight Pangolin species are protected under National and International Laws but there is still growing international illegal trade in Pangolins.