Illegal wildlife trade uncovered in Kota, 4 arrested

Kota: Four people have been arrested here for allegedly being involved in the illegal trade of animal organs and a substantial quantity of monitor lizard genitalia, deer antlers and jackal skin seized from them, forest officials said on Thursday.

They said the action was taken during a raid carried out on four establishments in the city's Ghantaghar and Gumanpura areas based on inputs from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), New Delhi.

Illegal wildlife products such as the genitalia of monitor lizards, turtle parts, deer antlers and jackal pelts were found in these establishments and seized, the officials said, adding that the operation was carried out by teams from the regional forest office, Abheda Biological Park.

The shops raided were selling materials used in religious rituals as a front for their illegal wildlife product trade, they added.

Personnel from the WCCB had been keeping a watch over the sale of organs of wild animals from the shops. They conveyed the information to the forest office on Wednesday, following which the raids were carried out, Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF), Wildlife, Kota, Anurag Kumar Bhatnagar said.

The four traders were booked under sections 39, 49(B) and 50 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and would be produced before a court on Thursday, he said.

Another trader was interrogated in the matter but no animal organs were found in his shop, Bhatnagar added.