17 cobras seized

A mobile court of Rapid Action Battalion yesterday seized 17 cobras in Keraniganj, on the outskirts of the capital.

The court sentenced a man, Babul Mia, 28, to one year's imprisonment for "preserving" the snakes at his rented house in Ghatarchar area.

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He was also fined Tk 50,000. In default, he will have to serve two more months in jail.

Acting on a tip-off, the mobile court raided the house around 2:00pm and found the cobras hidden inside fruit baskets, said Maj Nasir Uddin, deputy director of Rab-2.

Babul was arrested at the house.

For commercial purposes, the arrestee had been "preserving" the cobras for nearly a month, said Rab officials, claiming that he had a plan to start a snake farm in future.

The officials added that Babul was trying to smuggle the snakes out of the country as the commercial value of their venom and leather is high both at home and abroad.

Executive Magistrate Anisur Rahman, who led the mobile court drive, claimed that during primary interrogation, Babul admitted that several others were also involved in the crime.

The criminals work as a gang and its members are scattered across the country, he said, adding that they were trying to arrest the other culprits.