Live pangolin seized in Odisha; 2 held

Bhubaneswar: The Special Task Force (STF) of the Odisha police has seized one live pangolin and arrested two criminals involved in its illegal trade in Bolangir district, the police said on Friday.

The STF, with the help of Bolangir district forest officials, raided a place near Ainlapalli village under Tusura police station on Thursday night and rescued the pangolin from the two accused.

They have been identified as Hemasagar Mahananda and Laxmidhar Naik. Later, the police handed over the pangolin weighing 11 kg to the Bolangir DFO. The accused have been given into the custody of the local forest officials for further action, the STF said.

The Indian Pangolin is a shy, slow moving, nocturnal mammal. It is a Schedule-I protected animal under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, under which offenders are made to pay heavy penalties, informed the officials.

The STF has, so far, seized 12 live pangolins, 23 kg pangolin scales and also arrested a number of criminals involved in this illegal trade.

(IANS)