The animal’s teeth were missing and it had ants crawling over its body, said an official.
TWO MEN were arrested in Thane on Friday for allegedly attempting to sell a pangolin. Police said the duo had
struck a deal to sell the endangered animal for Rs 40 lakh. Raigad residents Ashok Jadhav and Santosh Butala have been booked under the Wildlife Protection Act, the police said.
Unit 5 of the Thane Police Crime Branch laid a trap in Wagle Estate on Friday after getting information that the men would arrive in a Mahindra Bolero to meet some buyers. The police intercepted the car and recovered the animal.
A crime branch official said the animal was in very poor health, all its teeth were missing and it had ants crawling over its body.
The pangolin was later handed over to the forest department in Thane. Smuggling of pangolins, which is an endangered species, is very common, as the animals are valued both as a delicacy and for the hard exterior
shells, which are believed to have medicinal properties.
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