Police busted a racket selling snake venom worth around Rs 1.5 crore at Taranga village in Deogarh district on Saturday. Two wildlife smugglers were arrested in this connection.
The police seized a sealed container from the possession of the accused in which one litre of the venom was stored. The accused were identified as Ranjan Kumar Padhi of Sakhipada and Kailash Chandra Sahu from Sindurapanka village in Sambalpur district.Acting on an intelligence input, a special team of the Deogarh police, posing as prospective buyers, raided a hideout in the village and nabbed the accused."We had prior information that a gang was trying to sell snake venom to buyers in the area. We tracked their movement and finally nabbed them," said a police official. Notably, on March 28, 2021 snake venom worth Rs 1.30 crore had been seized in Bhubaneswar by forest officials and six smugglers were arrested while striking a deal to sell the venom.
