Rs 18cr snake venom seized in Malda, man nabbed

MALDA: Snake venom worth Rs 18 crore was seized by BSF while one person was nabbed. Based on an intelligence report, BSF personnel of battalion 199 chased two persons at Kadamtala of Patiram and caught one of them. The person - Balaram Saha of Patiram - was found carrying three jars containing snake venom. The jars were marked as 'Made in France 6097'. Besides, two sample tubes packed in leather cases engraved as 'Cobra SP Red Dragon Made in France Code No 6097' along with one CD and a catalogue was found.Saha was handed over to South Dinajpur police.
On May 23, similar jars of snake venom worth Rs 12 crore were seized. On May 9, another BSF raid uncovered an unclaimed 'Made in France' jar containing 1.75kg venom. It is believed the jars, smuggled in from Bangladesh, were to be sent to western parts of the country.
In October last year, forest officials arrested four persons and seized five containers of snake venom worth Rs 200 crore from Phulbari area of Jalpaiguri district. Three of the accused - Sujoy Kumar Das, Bipul Sarkar and Pintu Banerjee - were from South Dinajpur.
A forest official said: "We suspect it's cobra venom which has high demand in the market, especially in China. The venom is also used in making narcotic drugs which are in high demand at rave parties."