Snake venom seized in Bengal, four arrested

Four people including a police officer have been arrested and snake venom worth around Rs.1 crore seized from them in West Bengal's Darjeeling district, police said Monday.

Acting on a tip off, CID officers arrested assistant sub-inspector Sheikh Sajimuddin and three of his accomplices outside a luxury hotel in the Pradhannagar area of Siliguri Sunday afternoon.

The three others nabbed are Nasiruddin Ahmed alias Munna, Ajay Kumar Rai and Neeraj Darnal, said Superintendent of Police, CID (North) Meeraj Khalid.

"We have seized over 500 gram of snake venom worth around Rs.1 crore in the international market from them. The four arrested have confessed that one kilo of snake venom fetches Rs.2 crore or even more," said Khalid.

Following interrogation of the accused, police have got names of more people associated with the case. "We are trying to arrest them also."

The venom was procured from the forest areas of Kalimpong (in Darjeeling district) or south Bengal.

Sajimuddin, attached to the tenth battalion of state police and posted at Dabram of Siluguri, is suspected to have kept the venom at his rented house in the Fulbari area.

The CID was trying to track the end users of the venom and for what purpose it is required.

All four were presented at a lower court in Siliguri and sent to police custody for four days.