Odisha : Snake venom worth Rs 1.3 crore seized; 6 held
The forest department of Odisha on Saturday busted a racket selling snake venom worth over Rs 1.3 crore and arrested six people, including a woman, involved in the crime.
The police also seized 1.3 litre venom sealed in two bottles from three accused.
The forest department of Odisha on Saturday busted a racket selling snake venom worth over Rs 1.3 crore and arrested six people, including a woman, involved in the crime, an official said.
The police also seized 1.3 litre venom sealed in two bottles from three accused, he said.
The accused were trying to sell the venom for Rs 10 lakh, the official added. An investigation has been initiated in the case.
Two accused belong from Bolangir district in Odisha, and another one hails from Balasore district, police said.
What forest official told News Agency
The incident came to light after the forest department received a tip-off about the racket in the capital city, Bhubaneswar, assistant conservative forest officer Prashant Panda told News agency.
The forest sleuths, disguised as customers, befooled the accused and nabbed them, Panda said.
“The interrogation of the three is underway to elicit details about the venom racket and the involvement of other members,” Panda told India Today TV.
What accused said
During the interrogation, one of the arrested accused claimed that they had no knowledge about the content in the packets which were handed over to them by ‘some people’ claiming to be medicines.
“We had no idea what was inside. A Bhubaneswar-based man named Gautam had given us two bottles to hand over to another person,” the accused said. He, however, said he didn’t know about Gautam’s whereabouts.
According to sources, the value of snake venom in the international market is estimated to be around Rs 13 crore.
