Two held for trying to sell rare pangolin

The Thane Crime Branch on Friday arrested two persons for allegedly trying to sell pangolin to the tune of Rs 40,0000, anteater- Pangolin is a protected Schedule-1 animal and is widely poached from the jungles and is sold in international markets.

According to Thane Crime Branch Unit 5, Ashok Jadhav,29, a resident of Raigad and Santosh Buthala,28 a resident of Poladpur in Raigad were waiting to sell pangolin and after a specific tip-off, the crime branch officials nabbed the accused and seized the animal from Thane.

“We had a confirmed tip-off that the two persons will arrive in Thane in their SUV to sell a rare protected species pangolin and soon after arresting them we lodged the First Information Report under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act”, said Abhishek Trimukhe, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Thane Crime Branch.

“The animal has been handed over to the forest department for rehabilitation and treatment.”, said Trimukhe.

Officials from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and the Forest Department admit that the pangolin is among the most poached animals.The scaly ant-eater is a Schedule-I animal, entitled to the highest degree of protection under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972--the same as the tiger.