Nagpur: Continuing the crackdown on wildlife offenders, officials of the Nagpur Forest Department have arrested an Ayurvedic medicine trader from the city for keeping 18″.stubbornness pair’ (dried copulatory organs of monitor lizards), 11 sea fans and four sandfish skinks.
This meant that the people who supplied the parts to the merchant would have killed 18 monitor lizards. It is not known whether the shop owner Mayur Madhusudan Gupta (33), who was arrested and booked under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972, procured the material.
Monitor lizards are listed under Schedule I of the WPA. Similarly, sea fans are invertebrates that develop in a fan-like pattern and are found in shallow and warm waters around reefs. The sandfish skink (Skincus scincanus) is also a lizard that lives in sand burrows.
The accused has been sent to one-day forest custody (FCR) till Wednesday. This was the first such case that had come before him for the court.
Monitor lizard poaching invokes the same section of the law as hunting tigers. However, the sandfish skink is not listed under the WPA. International Union for Conservation of Nature Checklist, and Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora A source and ownership certificate is required. In addition, sea fans are also listed under Schedule I.
Assistant Conservator of Forests Narendra Chandewar initiated action on Monday following a tip-off. Forest officials posing as fake customers and raided Shivshankar agencies, Sitabuldi and confiscated the material.
Chandewar said, “In recent years, the illegal trade in so-called ‘plant root’ locally known as hatha jodi (meaning pair of arms) has increased manifold in many parts of India. The roots actually represent the dried and partially stained copulatory organs of monitor lizards.”
Hatha Jodi is used for various superstitions, witchcraft and black magic. On the other hand, the earliest use of the monitor lizard dates back to at least 10,000 years ago, when the body parts of the monitor lizard had many applications in traditional Indian medicine.
Nagpur Deputy Conservator of Forests Bharat Singh Hada said there are irrational myths and beliefs that the oil obtained from the body fat of monitor lizards is used to treat loss of eyesight, stinging thorns or bites from poisonous animals. “It is also believed to be useful for treating tuberculosis, skin problems and sexual debility,” Hada said.
FacebookTwitterinstagramKu APPyoutube