Times News Network

Bangalore, Jan 29: The CID Forest Cell sleuths on Sunday afternoon raided a highway eatery on Chikkaballapur Main Road towards Bagepalli, and recovered four live reptiles, seven dead ones and two lizards, which were on the kitchen chopping board. The raid has blown the lid off wildlife trade by eateries.

The sleuths have arrested Vijay Kumar (45), owner of Annapoorneshwari Family Naidu Dhaba, and booked him for poaching and trading wildlife under Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972. The lizards are in the custody of Chikkaballapur Rural police.

The raid has exposed a wildlife trade thriving in at least eight dhabas situated on the same stretch. During interrogation, the dhaba owner confessed to receiving wild animals from the Hakki Pikki tribes from Tamil Nadu's Krishnagiri district.

Vijay Kumar, owner of Annapoorneshwari Family Naidu Dhaba, who was booked for trading wildlife, cracked under police pressure. He spilled the beans on other dhabas which source meat of lizards, spotted deer, peafowl and black-naped hares from the same tribe. The dhaba owners offered lizard-meat dishes to their customers, saying they were 'aphrodisiacs' and good for health.

Sleuths worked on leads for four months before swooping down on Chikkaballapur Main Road, whose eateries are frequented by the state's privilegentsia.

The sleuths went to the dhaba in the guise of customers. On the menu was monitor-lizard chilli priced at Rs 100 and eight more varieties. This apart, the dhaba owner was also ready to take a marriage party order, where he had promised more than 100 monitor lizards. A week ago, the team spotted about 80 lizards at the dhaba.

Raids are expected on other dhabas in the locality.

"We are looking for wild-meat suppliers. We will hold talks with the Tamil Nadu chief wildlife warden, asking them to control poaching activities across the border," said CID Forest Cell IGP KSN Chikkerur.