Furchung Bhote, 40, of Mirik in Darjeeling district, India was nabbed by the police at the Tinkune check post in Dharan-8 Wednesday evening with 27 kilograms of scales of the endangered mammal during a routine check.[break]
He had stuffed the scales in two sacks and was coming to Dharan from Itahari on a bus (Na 2 Kha 6777). Chief of the Area Police Office Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Deepak Regmi said Bhote intended to smuggle the scales to China through Sankhuwasabha district.
The Indian national, however, claimed that the scales didn´t belong to him. “The sacks are not mine. I was coming to Dharan to meet a relative. The conductor pointed toward me saying that I may have brought the sacks and the police arrested me,” Bhote told Republica.
But the conductor insisted that Bhote had brought the sacks on a rickshaw before boarding the bus.
“Bhote has said that the sacks don´t belong to him possibly to aviod punishment. The conductor has given a statement that Bhote himself brought the sacks on a rickshaw, loaded them on the bus and paid the fare,” DSP Regmi revealed.
Police said the scales are traded at around Rs 15,000 per kilogram but the same scales fetch as much as Rs 60,000 per kilogram in China due to its use in medicines and jackets. Police have handed over Bhote to the Area Forest Office for further action.
Chief of Area Forest Office, Dharan Mohammad Jayanuddin said Bhote will be tried under the Endangered Species Trafficking Act.
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