VIJAYAWADA : The officials of Forest Department arrested a person and seized the marine animals, parts of animals and wildlife products which were being sold on Saturday.
Acting on a tip-off, the authorities of Wildlife Crime Bureau, Wildlife Justice Commission of India (WJC), AP Wildlife and district forest authorities conducted raids at Akshayanidhi Mart in Vijayawada. They found a city-based trader S Srinivas Rao allegedly smuggling and selling the sea fans, corals and other wildlife items. They seized a huge quantity of dead and processed sea fans (soft corals), porcupine quills and 60 varieties of rare sea shells. “A total of 162 porcupine quills, two deer skins, five jackal tails, 989 sea fans, 200 photo frames of corals and 60 rare sea shells were seized from the accused house, who is running a business under Akshayanidhi Mart. The seized items were valued at about Rs 91 lakh,” said the DFO A Appanna.
The officials said the seized marine species and other material are protected under Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. “Smuggling and trading of marine animals and other products is a non-bailable offence and the accused is liable for punishment up to seven years. It is suspected that the accused have international links in the dealings as the sea fans were rare, and found in the shallow deep waters in TN and Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” Appanna added.