Snake venom worth Rs 1.5 crore seized in Bengal

Three persons have been arrested in West Bengal's Malda district with snake venom worth approximately Rs 1.5 crore in the international market, police said on Saturday.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team arrested the trio from a hotel in English Bazaar town on Friday night and recovered the snake venom which was stored in a glass container, district Superintendent of Police Alok Rajoria said.

The accused have been identified as 49-year-old Rafik Ali and Ashik Mandal and Masud Sheikh, both of them in their twenties, he said.

The accused are residents of villages under Kaliachak police station limits, the officer said.

They have been booked under sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, Rajoria said, adding an investigation is on to ascertain the source and destination of the snake venom.

The accused were produced before the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate in English Bazaar on Saturday, which remanded them to four days in police custody, sources said.