Baripada: Mayurbhanj police Thursday night rescued a pangolin and arrested a person from Bangiriposi area for keeping the endangered creature with him.
The accused has been identified as Singu Baske.
Acting on a tip-off, a special squad of Mayurbhanj district police conducted a raid at a place under Bangiriposi police limits Thursday night. The cops arrested Baske red-handed while he was striking a deal to sell the scaly animal weighing 8 kilograms to wildlife smugglers.
After being rescued, the animal was handed over to the forest department, it was learnt.
In this connection, a case has been registered at Bangiriposi police station and a probe is underway.
Notably, Odisha happens to be one of the top six states known for pangolin smuggling. According to information available from Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Assam reported 21 pangolin related crimes, followed by Madhya Pradesh (18), Maharashtra (17), Sikkim (17), Uttarakhand (10), Odisha and Mizoram (eight each).
PNN