The police have arrested three persons in possession of four kilograms of smuggled Seahorse, reported the Area Police Office (APO), Ithari.
The arrested are Bimal Karki and Suresh Bista of Sunsari and Anil Gurung of Kathmandu. The police have also seized a Maruti van owned by Suresh. Preliminary investigations have shown that Suresh had been carrying the seahorse from Kakarbhitta on the India-Nepal border to Ithari by taking a huge amount of money from Bimal and Suresh, said DSP Bhidyananda Majhi.
Likewise, in his statement to the police, Anil has confessed that he had been smuggling seahorse for the last two years. He has also said smugglers have been illegally importing the seahorse from India to export it to China via Kathmandu.
According to Majhi, there is also a third person involved in the smuggling but is currently at large.
It is the first time that the police arrested seahorse smugglers from the eastern part of the country.
The APO informed that the arrested will be handed over to District Forest Office in Sunsari on Sunday for further action. The smugglers will be punished as per the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act- 2029.
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