Cops arrest 3 for smuggling sand boa, tusk

In two separate incidents, Thane crime branch officials arrested three accused for smuggling a sand boa and an elephant tusk. Of the three accused, Umesh Siddhappa Adimuni (20) and Vikas Devraj Vaykar (29), were arrested for allegedly smuggling the snake while Brijeshkumar Harihar Singh was arrested for smuggling the tusk.

The police had got a tip-off about Adimuni Mr Vaykar having got a 39-inch sand boa weighing 740 grams at their place. Deputy commissioner of police, Thane, Parag Manere, said, “We came to know that the accused were going to sell the snake to a resident of Mumbra. This snake is famous among people for black magic and several stories are there about the same snake, so people shell out a lot of money to buy this snake. The reptile was brought from the Konkan region from one of the accused’s friend. The accused were about to sell the snake to a resident of Mumbra for Rs 30 lakh when we caught him.”

In the other incident, Mr Singh was arrested for possessing a 30-cm long elephant tusk that weighed three to four kg and was worth Rs 2 lakh. “During investigation, we come to know that Mr Singh had brought this tusk from south India but it was not clear to whom he was going to sell it.”