Gariaband, Oct 19 (PTI) Three persons were arrested for allegedly trying to sell a pangolin, a scaly ant-eater, in Gariaband district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Wednesday.

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The accused trio, identified as Ramesh Kamar (47), Rupesh Sahu (33) and Khumanlal Kandar (23), was held near Bhuteshwanath temple under the Gariaband police station limits on Tuesday night, Gariaband sub divisional police officer Umendra Nayak said.

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"Police had received a tip-off that three smugglers were carrying a rare species of pangolin in a bag with the intention of selling it," he said.

When the police came across the trio, they recovered a pangolin weighing 12.46 kilograms from their possession, Nayak added.

"The species is highly prized by wildlife smugglers due to a misconception that its body parts and scales are used for curing several diseases," he said.

They were arrested under the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)