Bhubaneswar, Nov 4: The forest department has failed to check snake venom smuggling in Odisha. BJP MP and founder of People for Animal (PFA) Maneka Gandhi on Friday said that there are several snake charmers in Odisha and the forest department is not doing anything for the snakes or elephants.
Notably, acting on the tip off, officials of Balasore forest division had rescued 29 cobras conducting raid at Panchupali village of Baliapal block in August this year.
Earlier, the forest department busted a snake venom selling racket on March 27, 2021 and arrested six people, including a woman, involved in the crime. The arrested were from differnt districts of Odisha.
The police also seized 1.3 litre venom worth over Rs 1.3 crore sealed in two bottles from the accused. The accused were trying to sell the venom for Rs 10 lakh.
Similarly, Deogarh police had seized one kg of snake venom in dry form in November 2021 from two men of Sambalpur while they were trying to sell it for Rs 1.5 crore.
The Noida Police on Friday arrested five people in connection with allegedly running an organised group that sells snake venom at rave parties in the NCR and booked Big Boss OTT Season 2 winner and YouTuber Elvish Yadav in this connection. Police said the arrest was made following a tip-off from PFA.
