Raibania: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel busted a racket smuggling live snakes and snake venom as it arrested two persons after seizure of four poisonous snakes from their possession at Jaleswar Railway Station in Balasore district, Wednesday. The accused were identified as Shankar Laik, 47, and Manik Laik, 35; both residents of Haricharan village under Dabra police limits in West Midnapore district of neighbouring West Bengal. After their arrest, RPF personnel handed them over in the custody of Forest department. Later, the Forest personnel registered a case and produced them in the court. They were remanded to judicial custody after the magistrate rejected their bail pleas. The breakthrough came when Rupsa RPFO C Kundan Kumar spotted two persons loitering suspiciously on Platform No1 of Jaleswar Railway Station, Wednesday afternoon. Smelling something fishy, he directed an ASI to question and frisk them.
During verification, four poisonous snakes kept in four bamboo baskets were seized from their possession. The seized snakes were handed over to forest ranger Jayshree Murmu of Jaleswar forest range. Reports said that smuggling of snake venom and poisonous snakes from the state has refused to abate despite crackdown by the police and Forest officials. Racketeers continue to transport snakes and venoms illegally outside the state with impunity due to lack of stringent action by police and law enforcement agencies. Two months back, Forest department officials rescued as many as 26 cobras and arrested three persons of an alleged interstate snake venom smuggling racket from Panchupali area in Balasore district, August 16. The trio allegedly supplied snakes to West Bengal and Bangladesh. Sources said that the members of the racket used to extract venom from snakes that were caught from different locations in the state. The extracted venom was then sold at very high prices.
Two years ago, police in Deogarh district had busted a racket selling snake venom worth around Rs 1.5 crore. Sources said cobra venom per gram is sold at Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 depending on its quality. The venom is used to produce anti-venom medicines for snake bites and several other life-threatening diseases. Even it is used to produce illegal drugs, sources said.
