Guwahati: The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) along with the Digboi Forest Division has recovered 6.3 kilograms of pangolin scales from a highway eatery near the Makum National Highway in Tinsukia.
A source informed that based on an input, an operation was launched by the WCCB and forest department.
In the operation, the teams raided a roadside eatery named, Gogoi Dhaba near Makum National Highway in Assam’s Tinsukia.
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The team then came across three suspected persons and on further investigation, they found them in possession of the pangolin scales.
They were immediately arrested and were identified as Amal Bikash Sakma, Lakhi Ram Sakma, and Basant Kr Sakma.
All of them were residents of Arunachal Pradesh.
On interrogation, they revealed that they had brought the scales from their home district in an attempt to sell them.
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It may be mentioned that Pangolins are threatened by poaching (for their meat and scales, which are used in traditional medicine and heavy deforestation of their natural habitats, and they are the most trafficked mammals in the world.
As of January 2020, there are eight species of pangolin whose conservation status is listed in the threatened tier.