Man held with banned wildlife species in UP’s Noida

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Noida (UP):

A man has been arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida after body parts of banned wildlife species and smuggled Himalayan herb were seized from his possession, police said on Thursday.

The action was taken by the Forest Department officials and the accused held from his shop in Bhangel on Wednesday on charges of selling prohibited species, the police said.

This is the second such case within a week in which a shopkeeper, possessing banned wildlife species with an intention of selling them, has been arrested in Noida, officials said.

“The accused has been identified as Sunil Jain, a resident of Barola village here, and booked under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972,” an official from Phase 2 police station said.

The forest officials recovered eight jackal bones, two owl nails, 10 monitor lizard genitalia, which are used in occult practices, three conch shells, 10 gm fireflies and 3 kg of ‘kuth’, a Himalayan herb used for medicinal purposes, the official said.

Earlier on September 4, a 45-year-old man was arrested from his shop in Sector 93 market for allegedly selling prohibited wildlife species, including birds and a reptile, the officials said.