Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
A rare sand boa weighing around 4.5 kg was seized from a suspected smuggler on the Solapur–Dhule highway at Karodi on Wednesday night. The accused, who had come from Kannad, has been arrested by the Department of Forest (DoF).
The person has been identified as Bhimrao Punjaram Birade (34, Ranjangaon Shenpunji). He had arrived on a motorcycle (MH-20 FT 9373) to strike a deal and was reportedly demanding a price of up to Rs 25 lakh for the reptile.
However, the DoF had prior information about the racket. Officials laid a trap, verified the presence of the rare sand boa, and arrested the accused once confirmation was received.
The operation was carried out under the guidance of conservator of forests Prakashchand Lakra, divisional forest officer Vaishali Tambe, deputy conservator of forests Suvarna Mane, and assistant conservator of forests Asha Chavan by the team including range forest officer S B Tambe, H S Syed, Shaikh Rashid, H K Ghusinge, Bharati Muchak, Madhav Totekar, and others.
Although the sand boa is a non-venomous snake, it is in high demand in illegal wildlife trade. The accused will be placed in forest custody, and investigations are underway to determine his involvement in other cases of reptile smuggling.