Balasore, Aug. 25: Officials of the district forest department seized 48 venomous reptiles and arrested five persons last evening.

Acting on a tip-off, forest personnel in Balasore town and Rajghat conducted raids in which five persons were arrested while four others of the gang managed to flee.

The personnel seized six snakes from Sahadevkhunta (Chandmaripadia) while 42 others were seized from Rajghat (Jaleswar).

The reptiles seized include cobra, viper and krait, which are highly venomous species.

While half of the seized snakes had been let off in Kuldhia sanctuary in Nilgiri, the rest would be released today, an official said.

“Receiving a tip-off that a gang was catching snakes at Sahadevkhunta in the town, we immediately tracked one of them. On the basis of his information, we could nab others from Rajghat,” said Chandipur forest range officer Rabindra Mohapatra.

“They were to cross the state border. We believe the snake market is Bengal and the use of these species could be for venom extraction. However, it could be for toxic or medicinal use as well,” said the forest officer.

Those arrested said they were from Bengal and identified themselves as Rajesh Chitrakar, 25, Ranjit Chitrakar, 23, Sunil Mal, 36, Subil Mal, 18, of Birbhum district and Md Faisal of North 24 Parganas.