Puja material seller among 3 held in Ayodhya for illegal wildlife trade

The accused has a shop near the Gonda court premises and he allegedly sold prohibited wildlife products used in tantrik rituals, said police

LUCKNOW A man operating a shop dealing in articles of worship (puja samagri) in Gonda was arrested along with two others from a house near the new Ram temple premises in Ayodhya for his alleged involvement in illegal wildlife trade, said police here on Thursday.

Products recovered from the accused included 20 tiger teeth, 24 nails & claws of an animal from the big cat family, said cops. (Pic for representation)

Daya Ram Dubey, Brijesh Kesharwani of Ayodhya and Sanjay Tiwari of Gonda were arrested by the UP STF, forest officials and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, officials were quoted in a press note.

Dubey has a puja material shop near the Gonda court premises and he allegedly sold prohibited wildlife products used in tantric rituals. The accused sourced these items from Kesharwani and Tiwari.

Products recovered from the accused included 20 tiger teeth, 24 nails & claws of an animal from the big cat family, 110 ‘siyar singhi’ (a small bunch of hair with a horn from the forehead of jackal), two ‘hattha jodi’ (a rare herb) and 140 ‘Indrajaal’ (a rare sea herb). These items and rare herbs costing ₹15 lakh were used in different types of pujas and tantrik rituals, said STF DSP PK Shukla.

The trio was nabbed from Kesharwani’s house in ‘naya mandir’ compound (other than the new upcoming Ram Janmabhoomi temple premises). They had gathered there to fix a deal for new consignments of prohibited items, said the official.