Bantwal: The CID Forest Cell sleuths have nabbed three persons for allegedly selling the scales of the Indian Pangolin, a species that is on the verge of extinction.
The arrested accused are Appuswami (36), K V Mani (37) and M M Ragha (41).
According to the officials, the accused had decided to sell the scales, worth lakhs of rupees, at the B G Halli Bridge located in the Mudigere town of Chikkamagaluru.
Based on credible information, the CID Forest Cell officers conducted a raid and were successful in nabbing the accused in Chikkamagaluru. The officials have seized 4.400 kgs of Indian Pangolin scales, one auto rickshaw and one motorcycle.
Meanwhile, the accused have been handed over to the Mudigere RFO for further legal actions.
The raid was conducted under the guidance of CID Forest Cell (Bengaluru Unit) ADGP Dr Ravindranathan and CID Forest Cell Police Superintendent Suresh Babu.
The raid was successfully conducted by Mangaluru CID Forest Cell PSI Purushottam, staff Jagannath Shetty, Uday Naik, Mahesh, and Devaraj, with the cooperation of the Chikkamagaluru Forest Cell staff.
