Man held for selling reptile skin products

NEW DELHI: A man has been arrested for allegedly selling reptile skin products to visitors at tourist hot spot Matheran in Maharashtra, wildlife officials said.

The arrest was made by a joint team of Maharashtra Forest officials and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB).

"Nameshwar Bagde (45) was arrested early this month when he was trying to sell leather items like wallets and belts made of reptile skins to a decoy customer," Tejaswani Patil, Regional Deputy Director (Western) of WCCB, said.

"We have seized 72 monitor lizard skins and four cobra skin wallets from him," she added.

Patil also said that at least 30 wallets, suspected to be made from reptile skins, have been recovered from the accused.

"Preliminary investigations have revealed that Bagde was procuring the skins from some locals, who in turn were getting them from the Western Ghats, a rich biodiversity spot.

"We are trying to ascertain his links. He was earning as much as Rs 10,000 for a Cobra skin wallet," she said, adding Bagde had been selling illegal wildlife products for quiet sometime to the tourists in the region.

A case under the Forest Act has been registered against Bagde and if found guilty in court, he might face three to seven years jail term.

Monitor Lizards and Cobra have been categorised under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act. The IUCN has also considered the species endangered.