5 monkeys, wallaby rescued; one arrested in Hajo

GUWAHATI: Five 'exotic' monkeys and a wallaby were rescued while being smuggled into Kamrup district and a person was arrested in connection, forest officials said on Thursday. Acting on a tip-off, a team led by North Kamrup Division Range Officer Sangeeta Rani Singha intercepted an Innova vehicle in Hajo on Wednesday night and seized six cages in which the animals were found. The team arrested one person while another fled. The forest and the wildlife officials continued their search and interrogating the detainee to ascertain from where the animals were brought and their ultimate destination.

During the past few years, Assam witnessed seizures of rare and exotic animals which are not found in the mountainous northeastern region. Forest officials have recovered several exotic animals in southern Assam after being smuggled from Myanmar as Mizoram, Manipur and other northeastern states are being used as corridors. Myanmar shares a 1,643 km of unfenced border with the states of Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland. (IANS)

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