Racket dealing with wild animal body parts busted in Odisha

A man was today held and body parts of over 400 monitor lizards were seized in a joint operation by Odisha Crime Branch, state Forest Department and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB).

The accused was held from from Brahmeswarpatna locality of the state capital region during the raid, official sources said.

The man, said to be the alleged mastermind of the racket, has been detained, Special DG, Crime Branch B K Sharma said.

As many as 210 dried hemipenes (sexual organs) of monitor lizards have been seized during the joint raid, Sharma said, adding that a case has been registred under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The crime branch was earlier alerted by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) regarding presence of such racket Odisha's capital.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)