Pune Railway Station Monitor Lizard Arrest Hatha Jodi Wildlife Crime

A state forest department team has arrested a man with possession of a monitor lizard body party near the Pune Railway Station. Forest officials have identified the accused as Malhar Lala Lokhande,34, resident of Pimple Gurav. Acting on a tip-off, a team of forest department comprising Range Forest Officer Nandakumar Patil, forester Pramod Raskar, forest guards Anil Rathod, Ankush Kachare, Madhukar Godage, Shriram Jagtap and Omkar Gund, laid a trap and nabbed Lokhande on June 19. During his search, the forest officials seized a severed and dried genital of a monitor lizard from his possession, stated a press release issued by Aashish Thakare, Conservator of Forest, Pune and Deputy Conservator of Forest Abhijit Waykos on Sunday. Malhar Lala Lokhande,34, was arrested by Maharashtra Forest Department team with possession of a monitor lizard body party. “Monitor Lizard is a protected species under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. So the accused Lokhande was arrested under sections of the Wildlife Protection Act. He was produced before a court on Saturday. “The court remanded the accused to forest custody for one day. Further investigation is on,” said Assistant Conservator of Forest Vishal Chavan. “Posession of Monitor Lizard is illegal The accused wanted to sell the Monitor Lizard body part. There are superstitions or belief that Monitor Lizard is lucky and brings prosperity,” Chavan said. A probe is on to know how and from where the accused procured the Monitor Lizard's genital. A forest official said some deceitful poachers and traders sell the genitals of monitor lizards to unwitting buyers as “hatha jodi”, a rare, mystical plant root that resembles two human hands clasped in prayer, claiming that it brings good luck and solves problems in life.