Guwahati, April 4: Customs sleuths along with the officials of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau recovered six tokay geckos - a lizard species that is in great demand in China for its reported medicinal values - from the inter-state bus terminus (ISBT) here last night.
The tokay geckos, suspected to be brought from somewhere in south India to smuggle them to China, were found inside an unclaimed bag at the ISBT.
Customs superintendent M. Sarania said the geckos were recovered during a search launched on the basis of source information.
"We had received information from a source that two persons, who appear to be from south India, had brought the reptiles by train to Guwahati to smuggle them to China via Dimapur-Moreh-Myanmar route," he said.
"The source said the duo were supposed to board a Dimapur-bound bus from the ISBT last night and accordingly a joint search was launched by a team of customs and bureau officials. Though we found the geckos inside an unclaimed bag, the culprits could not be traced," Sarania said.
The bureau's assistant director (Northeast) K. K. Sarma said they have inputs about regular smuggling of geckos from south India to China through the Northeast.
"According to our information, there is a high demand for tokay geckos in China as they are used in making traditional Chinese medicines, which are rumoured to cure several diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Unfounded claims that these geckos can be used to help treat HIV have led to a sharp boom in the smuggling of the reptile," Sarma said.
He said after completing the official formalities and taking permission from the court, the rescued geckos would be released in the forest.
Sarania said according to their information, one gecko is sold for several lakhs of rupees.
The ministry of environment and forests declared tokay gecko as a protected species in 2014.
The bureau had arrested two persons with three geckos from the ISBT in August last year. The accused had brought the geckos from Baghmara in Garo hills and were on their way to Arunachal Pradesh from where these would have been smuggled to China.
