Due to its high demand as an ingredient for certain medicines and for treating some ailments, snake venom has become one of the most common items smuggled out of India through various routes. The smugglers involved in this trade get astronomical prices for a small amount of venom. Earlier, such rackets mostly operated from the southern region of the country. However, recently, many such rackets have been identified in the eastern region too, especially Odisha and West Bengal. Some of these rackets have international connections, too, with the venom being sent out through the India-Bangladesh border.
A similar case came to light in Sambalpur, Odisha. An investigating team led by DFO of Sambalpur, Mr. Vishawanath Neelannavar, IFS, busted a gang posing as snake rescuers, but actually involved in illegal venom trade. The team arrested around six members of the gang. The investigation is still on and the main accused is still in custody.
In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Neelannavar gave details about the snake venom racket.
USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
“The racket is involved in inter-state venom smuggling. We also suspect that they have international ties, too,” Mr. Neelannavar said. Further findings revealed that the accused operated through social media. They had a page titled ‘Snake Rescue Helpline’ on Facebook and an account by the similar name on Instagram. Whenever anyone called them for help in catching a snake, they would go and catch it. But, unlike the forest department guidelines, they did not release the snakes in their habitats but, instead, milked their venom and used them for trading.
“As per the guidelines, the snake rescuers are given license and are even trained. In case of any complaint regarding any snake, they have to rescue it in the presence of forest staff and then take it to a safe habitat,” explained Mr. Neelannavar.
THE OPERATION
The gang was busted by the forest department after being tipped off by local informers who had informed that a person from Maharashtra, who was a history sheeter in venom smuggling, would be coming to Odisha.
Mr. Neelannavar said, “A big deal was about to take place. Four-five people from Balasore had come here. They also had links to Bhubaneswar. While tracking them, we seized a vehicle which had venom along with several other wildlife articles. On the same day, we raided the farm house of the main accused, from where we rescued a King Cobra.”
THE TWIST
However, in an interesting twist, the cobra bit one of the accused, who was then rushed to the hospital and was saved. All this took time and the documentation process got delayed. As of now, except for the main accused, the rest have got out on bail.
The investigation is still going on but the accused is still denying his involvement in any illegal trade, although there is information with the forest department that the accused took the venom through Bhubaneswar to Pune and then to Mumbai. One good thing is, this case came to light. “People are mostly unaware about wildlife crimes. Only if we make people aware of such crimes, can we protect our wildlife and eco-system,” Mr. Neelannavar said in conclusion.
