A red sand boa snake, worth around Rs 1.25 crore, was rescued from five persons, who were trying to sell it in Narsinghgarh town in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh on December 30, 2019, an official said. The five accused, including three minors, have been taken into custody, the official said.
According to police, these rare non-poisonous snakes are used for making certain medicines, cosmetics and in black magic, and are in huge demand in the international market. They are also believed to bring good luck and wealth.
Crime branch arrested three persons while they were trying to sell a rare Red Sand Boa in the outskirts of the city on Friday. The police, posing as buyer, reached the accused when they agreed to sell it for Rs 25 lakh but were arrested. Police believed that the value of the Red Sand Boa is worth crores in the international market.
ASP (crime) Rajesh Dandotiya said a tip-off was received that some persons were searching for a buyer of a rare Red Sand Boa near Vaishnav Dhaba in Bhatkhedi village on AB Road. After the information, crime branch team informed the officials of Forest Department and reached the spot. A crime branch officer, posing as a buyer, talked to one (accused) Rahul for the Red Sand Boa. Rahul claimed Rs 25 lakh for it. After that, the accused called his of two accomplices there. One of the accused showed the Red Sand Boa which was about 3.5 feet to the police after which they were cordoned off the area and arrested them.
According to Dandotiya, the Red Sand Boa weighed about 2.8 kg. The accused named Vishal Rajput of Bhatkhedi, his brother Rahul and Dilip Nayak of Kasrawad in Khargone district were taken to the crime branch office and they were handed over to Forest Department officials for further action.
Red Sand Boa is smuggled in other countries
According to the police, the rare Red Sand Boa snakes are smuggled in other countries also. They are smuggled to Nepal, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, China and Arab countries from India. Snakes of this species are also used to prepare medicines for diseases like strength, epilepsy, cancer, sexual power and for AIDS. In Arab countries, red sand boa species snake dishes cost millions of rupees.
