Pangolin Smuggling Racket: Three Including Kingpin Arrested In Cuttack

Bhubaneswar: Athagarh Forest officials arrested three persons including the kingpin, Ali from Naraj area in Cuttack district on Friday in connection with the pangolin smuggling racket.

Athagarh DFO Sasmita Lenka said that Ali was nabbed based on crucial information during the interrogation of a person who was recently arrested from Naraj in connection with the illegal wildlife trade. The two other accused have been identified as Santosh and Hadibandhu.

“Based on the information, we had set up a trap to nab the kingpin. We had lured the accused on the pretext of selling pangolin scales to him,” said Lenka.

“The kingpin used to smuggle pangolins by using formalin on the dead animals and concealing them inside fish consignments. We suspect the involvement of some more persons in this illegal trade and efforts are on to nab them,” she added.