Pangolin scales, sandalwood seized from two in Tarikere, Chikkamagaluru

CHIKKAMAGALURU: In a raid on the house of a smuggler Boti Chandrashekar, forest officials on Wednesday seized around 5.5 kg of pangolin scales and about 65 kg of sandalwood stocked in the cellar of his house in Tarikere of Chikkamagaluru. Two people have been arrested, while the main accused, Chandrashekar and his wife Devi, who were involved in the smuggling, are missing.

ACF Srinivas told Deccan Chronicle that Chandrashekar had stocked the pangolin scales in a cave like hole in the cellar. Foresters entered the house with a search warrant. The house was locked from inside and a thorough search exposed the stocked animal parts and chopped sandalwood, he said.

The ACF was not sure about the use of pangolin scales, but he suspected that they were to be smuggled to China to make bullet-proof jackets. He said Chandrashekar was involved in smuggling activities in the past and operated through his gang in Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga. Local poachers hunted pangolins and supplied them to Chandrashekar, who smuggled the parts outside the state and country.

The estimated cost of the seized items is around Rs 10 lakh in the grey market. The arrested Manja and Murugesh belong to Halegnagoor village of Lingadahalli hobli in Tarikere. Boti Chandrashekar and Devi are wanted in 10 smuggling cases.