One nabbed, deer horns worth lakhs seized

 A man has been arrested in north Delhi’s Inderlok for attempting to sell horns of spotted deer for Rs 2 lakh each, police said on Thursday.

A case under the Wildlife Protection Act has been registered against Sampann Sharma, 40, who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district, after four horns were recovered from him.

“Sampann claimed that the horns belonged to his grandfather, but he was looking to sell them through a man in Inderlok,” said A K Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (north).

He was busted after a tip-off on Wednesday.“We had received secret information that a smuggler of spotted deer horns will come at Furkania Masjid in a car,” Singh said.

A raiding party near Furkania Masjid T-Point stopped a car at 7.30 pm at the instance of informer.

“Two gunny bags containing four horns were recovered on search of the car,” Singh added.

Sampann later told police that he took up smuggling after incurring losses in several businesses, including brassware and manufacture of corrugated boxes.

In January, he took loans from his friends and relatives and started a catering business. But he had to wind it up in September, as he again faced a big loss.

Singh said Sampann was under pressure to pay back his loans. So he decided to sell the spotted deer horns from his grandfather’s time.