BHUBANESWAR: Deogarh police on Saturday seized one kg of suspected snake
venom
in dry form and detained two men while trying to sell it for Rs 1.5 crore. The venom can easily fetch anything between Rs 2 crore to Rs 5 crore on the grey market, sources familiar with snake venom trade said.
Deogarh sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Pratyush Kumar Mohapatra said Kailash Chandra Sahu (36) and Ranjan Kumar Padhi (42), both natives of Sambalpur city, were arrested after they tried to sell the venom to a customer who was set up as a decoy by the police.
Once a deal was struck, the two reached Sindurpankh under Sadar police station limits of Sambalpur city. The two demanded Rs 1.5 crore and before they could realise anything, the police swooped down and nabbed them. "We will send the venom to the laboratory for test," Mohapatra said.
This is the second time illegal trade of snake venom has come to light in the state this year. In March, the forest department had busted a similar racket and arrested six persons in Bhubaneswar. Around one litre of snake venom in liquid form and worth around Rs 1.3 crore was seized.
There is no authorised agency or individual in Odisha to extract snake venom, which is used in the pharmaceutical industry for production of anti-venom among other medicines. Police are investigating whether the venom was collected in Odisha or had come from outside because the package on the container said 'made in France'.
Venom is generally collected in liquid form and needs to be processed to turn it into a dried state, for which there is no facility in the state. Subhendu Mallik, who runs a snake help line, said joint efforts of law enforcement agencies and wildlife department is needed to weed out illegal trade in snake venom.
Sources said, the venom is extracted after capturing the reptile and then allowing it to bite into a receptacle to collect the venom. The venom collected is used in a host of research and pharmaceutical applications. It is also used as a value added product to be mixed with narcotic
drugs
.
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