Rare lizard seized from medical store in Purnia, four arrested
A rare lizard, which is said to be much in demand in South-East Asian countries and China, has been seized from a medical store in Purnia district of Bihar, police said on Wednesday.
The 14-inch-long Tokay gecko, an endangered species listed in the schedule III of Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, was seized from a medical store at Baisi on Bihar-West Bengal border late Tuesday evening, according to police.
“Acting on information that banned cough syrup was being sold at the medical store, we carried out a raid and seized the rare lizard, besides 50 bottles of banned cough syrup,” R K Choudhary, station house officer (SHO) of Baisi police station, adding that four persons were arrested. “We have handed over the lizard and the arrested suspects to the forest department for further investigations,” he said.
Acting superintendent of police Surendra Kumar Saroj, however, said the owner of the shop managed to flee.
Police refused to reveal the identity of those arrested.
Uma Nath Dubey, forest department’s ranger officer in Kishanganj, said, “The seized lizard could be of rare species but we have no idea about its international price.”