The Special Task Force of Odisha police’s crime branch seized a live pangolin and arrested two wildlife smugglers near Borigumma in Koraput district on Sunday about 550km from here.

Pangolin smuggling has been rampant in the state where inter-state gangs of smugglers have been active for the past sometime.

Sources said that the STF acted on the basis of a tip-off that two persons were planning to smuggle the pangolin. The team conducted a raid at a place between Borigumma and Koraput under the Koraput Sadar police station. During the raid the two smugglers Madhab Paraja, 42, and Jagabandhu Paraja, 48, of Bindhaniguda village under the Bishingpur police station area of the district were apprehended.

During the raid a live pangolin and some other incriminating articles were recovered from the possession of the smugglers.

The STF in a press release said: “As the accused persons could not produce any document in support of possession of the pangolin, they were detained and then handed over to Koraput forest officials. The pangolin was handed over to the divisional forest officer, Koraput, for safe custody. Further investigation is on.”

“Since 2020 it has seized 25 leopard skins, 13 elephant tusks, 7 deer skins, 11 live pangolins and 16 kg of pangolin scales. It has also arrested 57 wildlife criminals during this period,” said the press release.

Forest officials admit that checking wildlife smuggling is becoming increasingly difficult because of the involvement of interstate gangs and the increasing use of technology by them.

These days smugglers use WhatsApp to strike deals. First they send pictures of the animals in their possession and related details about them to prospective buyers on WhatsApp and once the deal is finalised the real exchange takes place at a pre-decided venue. This is done to rule out the possibility of police raids.

“The STF has already adopted modern technology to deal with this new wave of wildlife crime,” said a senior officer.