Sikkim residents held with pangolin

TT, Siliguri: The special task force of the Bengal forest department arrested five persons, all from Sikkim, on Tuesday and seized a dead pangolin from them at Kalijhora.
They were allegedly trying to smuggle the pangolin into Bhutan, said the foresters.

"We had received a tip-off that some people were trying to smuggle a pangolin into Bhutan through Sevoke. We reached Kalijhora and waited for them. In the afternoon, we spotted a vehicle bearing a specific registration number and intercepted it. We searched the vehicle and found a jute bag loaded with spinach. The carcass of a full-grown pangolin was concealed in the bag," said Sanjay Dutta, the range officer of the special task force.

The arrested are Gopal Dorjee, a resident of Namchi, Arjun Rai of Rongpo, Kamal Sundas and Umesh Subba of Rabongla and Santosh Byahut from Maniram.

The five arrested men with the pangolin's carcass The foresters said as per the red data list prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the pangolin is a threatened animal.

"It is one of the animals which is illegally killed and sold. Its scales and flesh have huge demand from those who make traditional medicines. Its flesh is used to make dishes in China, Bhutan and some other south Asian countries," said a forester.

The forester said the animal had been killed in a forest in Sikkim. "They could develop contacts with prospective buyers in Bhutan and was supposed to sell the animal for Rs 3 lakh," he said.
Last month, the task force had seized around 3kg of pangolin scales and arrested four persons, who were residents of Sikkim and Kalimpong.