Thane: A red sand boa was seized from a rickshaw driver in Maharashtra's Thane district on Tuesday, with police claiming the reptile might be worth Rs 40 lakh in the illicit wildlife market.
Acting on a tip-off, that three persons were planning to sell a sand boa, a Crime Branch team laid a trap near Retibunder Road on Kharigaon toll post and came across a rickshaw driver with a bag.
"The rickshaw driver has been identified as Ishtiyaque alias Javed Ahmed Sheikh (38), a resident of Sathe Nagar in Wagle Estate. We checked the bag and found a red sand boa worth Rs 40 lakh in the illegal market," an official had said.
An offence has been registered at Kalwa police station against Sheikh under relevant provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
"We are probing the network of those who caught the snake and the groups that were interested in buying it," he added.
