Police arrest woman allegedly selling a rare snake in Mumbai

Officers of the Kasturba Marg police station on Thursday arrested a 45-year-old woman who was allegedly trying to sell a rare double-headed red sand boa (scientific name Eryx johnii, an endangered species) worth a few lakhs in the international market.

The arrested woman was identified as Madhumati Rajput, originally from Gujarat and a resident of Kalwa in Thane district. Police said they were tipped off that she would be coming to the Borivli railway crossing with a rare snake. Accordingly, a trap was laid and Rajput was arrested.

“The woman had concealed the snake cleverly so that nobody suspected her,” an officer from the Kasturba Marg police station said. “She was carrying a plastic bag filled with soil. Initially we thought the informant had misled us, but when we searched through the soil, we were shocked to find the boa.”

The four-foot-long snake weighed 2kg and is believed to be worth at least Rs5 lakh in the international market in exotic animals. Rajput was arrested and charged under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act.

The police officer said, “During preliminary interrogation, Rajput claimed that she had got the snake from Gujarat and was to sell it to someone in Mumbai for Rs3.5 lakh. But before she could deliver it to the receiver, we arrested her.”

The officer said the incident could well be part of an organised animal-smuggling racket. “These snakes are sold in the international market at high rates starting from Rs5 lakh,” he said.

The police are trying to find out if the woman belongs to any animal-smuggling syndicate.

“We are trying to find out the person who was supposed to buy the snake from Rajput,” senior inspector RR Thakur said. “His arrest could throw more light on this racket.”

According to a forest officer who did not wish to be named, the snake, usually found in fields, is harmless. “False claims about the snake’s medicinal value make some people try to capture it and sell it,” he said.

Smugglers claim that extracts from the snake are used to cure Aids and some other diseases. Others claim that the extracts have aphrodisiac properties. In the US, some people keep the snake as a pet.