Raigad man held, 3 snakes seized

Mumbai: In a joint raid conducted by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, forest department - wildlife wing and a NGO in the early hours of Monday, Jaywant Ramchandra Sakp-al (53), a resident of Pen in Raigad, was arrested and th-ree snakes including a spectacled cobra (venomous), rat snake and common sand boa (non-venomous) were seized from Airoli.

As per the information, Mr Sakpal has a collection of snakes which he transports for illegal activities like snake shows and venom extraction etc.

The raid was jointly conducted under the guidance of WCCB — western region deputy director M.M. Mara-nko and deputy conversation of forests — Thane wildlife Arjun P. Mhase and team led by the range forest officer (wildlife) Darshan Thakur and team with help from NGOs PAWS — Mumbai and ACF led by the honorary wildlife warden of Mumbai city Sunish Subramanian Kunju.

Mr Kunju said, “Cobra venom has medicinal value. However of late, it has also been used to make banned party drugs.”