TURA: South Garo Hills Police have apprehended five wildlife poachers while they were attempting to smuggle a live pangolin from the district to Assam early on Sunday morning.
After getting inputs about the poachers, police set up a vehicle check point during which the five persons were intercepted with the pangolin.
“We intercepted the smugglers at around 3 in the morning. All the five persons have since been arrested and the animal has also been handed over to Wildlife authorities,” district DSP Anthony informed.
The arrested persons have been identified as Abdul Sanjiv (25), Md Johdul Ali (22), Mainur Rahman (45) and Hachen Ali (32), all from Goalpara in Assam and Dipson A Sangma (39) from Dosogre village in South Garo Hills.
It may be mentioned that the pangolin (locally known as Kawate) is an endangered species which is rarely found in other parts of the country.
The animal is much sought after by smugglers due to its high value in the underground market.
