Five held for attempting to sell a rare snake species

Five persons have been arrested for allegedly trying to sell a rare sand boa here, police said today.
The snake, a rare species was seized by a special police team.
The Wildlife Cell of the Special Task Force (STF) of Madhya Pradesh Police with the help of Forest Department intercepted the five accused -- Brijesh Patel, Vijay Verma, Lokesh Mehra, Aman Saxena (all residents of Bhopal) and Pratik Bohra from Katni district.
"They were intercepted from Shahpura locality yesterday here when they were travelling in an SUV. We seized the sand boa, an endangered species of snake, from their possession," STF Assistant Inspector General of Police, Ashish Khare told PTI.

The action was based on a tip-off, he said, adding, "the accused were trying to sell off the snake for Rs 10 lakh. But this reptile may fetch Rs one crore in the international market."
All the five accused have been arrested under the relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act.

According to sources, the sand boa is used in making energy medicines and in black magic.
"We have now sent the snake to Van Vihar Zoo and animal rehabilitation centre-cum-national park here, after seeking permission from a court," Khare added.
Though believed to be a two-headed snake - with a head on at each end of its body - the tail end of the sand boa only resemblances a head and is part of the snake's defence mechanism to escape predators and to prey on smaller reptiles and rodents.