Bhayandar: Sleuths of the Thane (rural) police on Tuesday apprehended a duo who were found to be in possession of two sand boa snakes (Mandul) — a protected species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act. Acting on a tip-off, a team from the Navghar police station led by Senior Police Inspector Ram Bhalsingh under the guidance of SP Dr Shivaji Rathod laid a trap near the sub-way in Bhayandar (E) at around 3 pm on Tuesday and nabbed the suspects who have been identified as Wajid Hussain Qureshi (47) and Shambhu Achhelal Paswan (39), both residents of Mumbai.
On frisking them, the police team found two Indian sand boa snakes in their bag. The snakes are worth around Rs 2.5 crore in the illegal wildlife market, said the police who are trying to find the source of the snakes and their supposed buyers. Having a huge demand in the international market, sand boas apart from their use in making certain medicines are also used to perform black magic.
While the forest officials have been informed about the capturing of the snakes, a case under Sections 9, 39(3), 42,44, 48 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 has been registered against the duo who have been remanded to custody. Over the past couple of months, police personnel and forest department officials from Thane, Mumbai, and Palghar have arrested several accused who were found to be smuggling or trying to sell sand boa snakes in the black market.
