Two men trying to sell sand boas held

MUMBAI: Two men were arrested by the Thane local crime branch for allegedly looking for buyers for two red sand boas valued at around Rs 2.5 crore.
In the past few months several sand boas have been seized from Mira-Bhayander, Thane and Palghar. It is believed that that these two-headed reptiles bring prosperity.
Acting on a tip-off, cops laid a trap at Navghar in Bhayander (E). Wajid Qureishi (47), an Andheri resident, and Shambhu Paswan (39) of Malad were caught with the snakes, one weighing 2.98kg and the other 2.5kg. They have been booked under sections of the Wildlife Protection Act and have been remanded in police custody. The reptiles have been sent to Sanjay Gandhi National Park where they will be released.
An endangered species, the snakes found in the jungles of Vasai and Manor, are often smuggled to Malaysia, Nepal, China and other south Asian countries. The non-venomous snake has a head and a tail that resembles a head. On May 18, two men were held in Nalasopara with a sand boa worth Rs 1.2 crore. Last month, two snakes were rescued from a farmhouse in Manor.