Snake Venom Racket Busted In Bhubaneswar, Three Held

Bhubaneswar: Forest Department officials busted a racket selling snake venom and arrested three alleged smugglers on Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off about a Rs 10 lakh deal  in Bhubaneswar’s Airport area, a team of Forest officials went to the spot as undercover agents and caught three persons. They also seized two bottles of snake venom and a packet of syringes from their possession.

According to the Forest officials, the three accused hail from Balangir district.

One of the arrested person told the media that a Bhubaneswar-based man named Gautam had given them the two bottles. He had told them to hand them over to another person.

He, however, said he didn’t know about Gautam’s whereabouts.

Speaking about the seizure, a Forest official said the venom will be sent for laboratory test to ascertain the snake species from which it was extracted.

He said the interrogation of the three arrested is underway to elicit details about the venom racket and the involvement of other members.