n a crackdown, forest personnel on Wednesday rescued as many as 26 cobras and arrested three persons, including a woman, in Baliapal tehsil of Baleswar district on the charge of illicit trade of the venomous snakes.
As per reports, the raid was carried out at Panchupali in Baliapal block with joint efforts of the Forest Department and the Snake Helpline. Preliminary investigation indicated that the snakes had been collected from various parts of the State and were being smuggled to different places after extracting their venom.
Snake Helpline general secretary Subhendu Mallik told reporters that they had received reliable tipoff about the smuggling of cobras and immediately left Bhubaneswar at around 3 am. They reached Baleswar at 5 am and along with forest officials of the Panchupali Range carried out the raid.
“We rescued 26 cobras which were being taken in specially-designed plastic containers. We suspect there are many others involved in his racket. Investigation is underway,” he stated.