Three forest officers, storekeeper Dilip Kumar Chaudhary and forest guards Ambika Ghimire and Muga Dulal have been arrested in connection with the reported theft of the endangered animal´s scales. [break]
The bag with the scales was reported missing by the forest officials when they could not place it on Monday evening. According to storekeeper Chaudhary, the bag was in the storehouse till 1 pm on Friday. He claimed that the bag was stolen while he was in Kathmandu by breaking the window.
A police source involved in the investigation said that the storehouse seems to have been entered through the door and the window was broken later for impact.
Forest Officer Murari Prasad Pokharel said the keys to the storehouse were always with Chaudhary while Ghimire and Dulal shared duty to keep guard on the storehouse 24 hours. It is yet to be determined when the bag of scales went missing.
Pokharel claimed that the bag must have been stolen either Saturday or Sunday when he was participating in a regional seminar and Chaudhary was on leave. The office´s power supply was cut off seven days ago for not clearing the bill.
The bag of 46 kg of scales had been seized on May 22, 2010, from two Chinese, two Indian and one Nepali citizens who were trying to smuggle it to The case filed against them by the Forest Officer China. under National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act 2029 is still subjudice.
In the past one year, it has come to notice that pangolin scales are being smuggled to China. According to the National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act 2029, pangolin has been enlisted among the protected species and buying and selling of its body parts are illegal. According to the Act, those caught buying or selling pangolin parts will be fined Rs 50,000 to Rs 100,000 or five to 15 years of imprisonment or both.
According to experts, pangolin scales are said to be beneficial for treating various skin diseases.
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