E-Paper
Wildlife smuggling case: Pet shop owner arrested in Thane
A 24-year-old from Hyderabad has been arrested on Wednesday for running wildlife smuggling racket.
A 24-year-old from Hyderabad has been arrested on Wednesday for running wildlife smuggling racket.
He is the seventh person to be arrested in the case.
The Thane forest department received a tip-off that the absconding accused, Mohammed Imran Khan, will be visiting a friend at Majiwada. The police laid a trap and arrested him at the Majiwada circle on Wednesday.
He was produced in Kalyan court and has been granted one day police custody.
Sanjay Pawar, round forest officer, Thane, said, “We had been on the lookout for Khan for days. He is a pet shop owner and was supplying animals to the main accused.”
On December 10, Mohammad Khalid Riyaz Ahmed was arrested at Thane station with many animals and birds. Further investigation revealed names of three more accused, two from Mumbai and one from Telangana. They were later arrested by the forest official. However, all were released on a bail.
“Hyderabad resident Mohammad Ahmed was arrested by Thane forest officials with three falcons, one black-shouldered kite and one Eagle owl which was kept in a box. He was travelling in Coimbatore-LTT (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus) to sell them in Mumbai when he was arrested at Thane station,” said one of the forest officials from Thane forest department.
On December 11, one more accused was arrested from Bengaluru.
“All the accused were arrested under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972,” said an official.
