5 snake smugglers held with Rs 35 L worth Sand Boa in Ashima Mall

The wildlife team of the Special Task Force (STF) Bhopal nabbed five snake smugglers near Ashima Mall and recovered seven ‘Sand Boa’ snakes which are worth Rs 35 lakhs in the international market.

The nexus was unearthed after accused were detained near Ashima Mall where they were caught carrying ‘Sand Boa’.

Acting on a tip off the action was taken at around 6 pm in which a team reached the spot and asked the accused posing as customer and when the accused reveal carrying the snakes illegally they were nabbed. The nabbed accused persons have been identified as Shankar Singh Tomar, Umesh Bhargava, Lakhan Singh, Tahrar Khan and Daulatram. The accused are resident of Bhopal and Rajgarh.

The accused Daulatram who is main accused coordinated with others who are part of an interstate nexus, and informed them. Nabbed accused would be quizzed for details of customers who were scheduled to buy the snakes. The accused were involved in the nexus for long and details of their earlier smuggling would be investigated in investigation. The accused were carrying bags in which they had kept the snakes. Initially the team recovered three ‘Sand Boa’ snakes and when the accused were questioned in the further investigation four snakes were recovered. The ‘Sand Boa’ snakes cost lakhs of rupees depending upon their size in the local market while the cost may vary in international market and could fetch massive amount which attracts the smugglers to smuggle ‘Sand Boa’ snakes. The nexus working would be unearthed in the further investigation.