Malda, 04th January: Officials of the Malda Crime Monitoring Cell arrested three smugglers with snake venom. The arrested have been identified as Rafik Ali (49), Aashiq Mandal (20) and Masood Sheikh (20), residents of Bamangola of Shahbazpur Gram Panchayat under Kaliachak police station and Akandabaria respectively.
According to sources, the three were arrested by the police on Friday night from a private hotel in the Jhaljhalia area of Malda. 1 kg of snake venom was recovered from them.
Malda Superintendent of Police Alok Rajoria, during a press conference on Saturday afternoon, informed that the snake venom, worth more than Rs 1 crore, was kept in a jar.
A case has been registered under the Wildlife Protection Act against the accused of conducting illegal activities. Today, they were produced in the Malda court.