The police Special Task Force arrested a man with seven kilograms of pangolin scales in the Herbertpur area on Sunday. The seizure comes a few days after stones were pelted at department staff who had raided a Sapera Basti at Mothrowala in Dehradun from where they had seized about four kilogram pangolin meat.
According to the police, Himachal Pradesh native Hemraj was arrested in a joint operation by the STF and forest department when he was taking the pangolin scales to Haridwar to sell to a person from Nepal. Case was booked against him under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act and the motorcycle being used by him was seized. The pangolin scales seized by the police are estimated to be worth Rs13 lakh in the international market with pangolin scales fetching upto $ 3,000 per kg in the international market.
According to the police, during interrogation, Hemraj had revealed information about people involved in the wildlife contraband trade based in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and neighbouring country of Nepal. He confessed to have poached two pangolins in the Timli forest range in Dehradun district for the seven kg scales. He was taking the contraband to a Nepali in Haridwar. A police team has left for Haridwar in search of this person. It is worth mentioning here that last year the STF had seized 15 kg pangolin scales in two different seizures.