Police arrest man for smuggling endangered lizards in Assam

Guwahati, Jan 22  Police in Assam arrested a man from a railway station in Guwahati city for trying to smuggle 15 gecko lizards. The man identified as Sanjay Rai was trying to smuggle the endangered species to West Bengal, police officials said. He told officials he had caught the geckos from Kumarghat in Tripura and was taking them to Siliguri. Geckos have large international market value and they are transported to China from northeastern states via Nepal. There are many instances where gecko smugglers have been arrested in the city and other parts of the state.