Four arrested, Rs 200-cr snake venom seized in Bengal

Acting on a tip-off, forest officials arrested four persons and seized five containers of snake venom worth Rs 200 crore from Phulbari area of North Bengal's Jalpaiguri district, an official said on Saturday.

"Four persons were arrested and five bullet-proof containers of snake venom worth Rs 200 crore were seized. We also recovered some ammunition and one revolver," said Sanjay Dutta, Range Officer, Belakoba Range of Baikunthapur Forest Division.

The accused -- Sujoy Kumar Das, Bipul Sarkar and Pintu Banerjee, of South Dinajpur district, and Amal Nubia from Malda district of West Bengal -- were produced at a district court on Saturday, the official said.

Accused persons are said to be part of an international smuggling racket.

"We had information that some containers of snake venom made in France would be coming through Bangladesh. We kept on tracking it," Dutta said.

Later, they came to know that five containers with snake venom had been transported to Siliguri.

"Accordingly, we have laid a trap and caught them pretending as buyers," he added.

--IANS

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