NAGPUR: Nine people, who met on Facebook due to their common interest in snakes, were caught at Saoner on Sunday evening while allegedly smuggling snakes for sale. The group, including four students, was rounded-up by forest officers from Khapa range. Six snakes and seven eggs have been seized from them.
The gang included a 17-year-old boy who, police said, had invited all the others to his Saoner residence. The boy, a standard XII student, has been sent to the remand home. The others were remanded to forest custody till Wednesday.
Ravindra Gadge, range forest officer, Khapa, and his team raided the minor’s house at 4pm on Sunday, where the youths were discussing snakes. Initial interrogation revealed the group came to know each other on Facebook and then formed a Whatsapp group to share photos of snakes and sell them.
“We had received information about some people carrying snakes in a plastic container. Prima facie, it seems they arrived in Nagpur with the snakes in their bag from Pune by Maharashtra Express on Sunday morning,” Gadge said.
The other accused were identified as Mayur Somdive, 23, of Nagpur, who is a third year engineering student, 18-year-old Abhishek Pathak from Brahmapuri, who is an ITI student at Nagpur, and Rajat Tirpude, 19, from Kuhi, who is pursuing graduation.
The other four, Yogesh Bhandare, Rahul Shivle, Saidas Usad, all in their twenties, and Somnath Khadke, 37, are from Pune. Usad works with an IT company, Khadke is a peon at a school and Shivle is a farmer. Forest officials said Bhandare is unemployed and totally dependent on such illegal business.
The six snakes seized from the gang included an Indian cobra, python, Daboia (Ghonus), bamboo snake, sapda and Deccan gecko. Forest officials said the gang has not yet revealed their motive behind smuggling snakes.
“The students have not said how they took to snake smuggling. It is not yet clear whether the gang was about to meet others in the gang or had come to sell the snakes,” said Gadge. Forest officials claimed the youths had also not said whether they extracted venom to sell it.
