DAVANGERE: On a tip-off the district police had a major catch of the inter-district thieves who were involved in transporting 67 kg pangolin scales from a dhaba near Harihar on Shivamogga road on Wednesday.
DCRB DSP BS Basavaraju and team who came to know about this illegal act raided Shiva Basava Daba, where he found two vans transporting Pangolin scales. The vans were seized on charges of transporting the world's largest trafficked mammal scales. Along with this 18 people were also arrested.
A case under The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 also has been registered against them . They had been remanded in judicial custody.
Police sources said that pangolins are trafficked by poachers all over the world due to their highly coveted scales which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. "This illegal trade makes them vulnerable to extinction," he said.
This is one of the biggest catches of wildlife scale trading in Davangere district in recent times.