Madhyamgram: A Tokay Gecko was rescued and a man who had allegedly plotted to sell it was arrested in Madhyamgram, on the northern fringe of the city, on Wednesday.

The gecko has been kept at the wildlife rescue centre in Salt Lake's Baisakhi and will be released in the wild soon.

The Tokay geckos, protected under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, are a type of Asian lizards characterised by orange spots on the skin and a shrill croak.

Possession of and trading in Tokay geckos are banned in the country. Violation of the law is punishable by a jail term for up to three years.

The accused - Mohammed Ali Mollah, 56 - has been charged under various sections of the wildlife protection act. He was rounded up by officials of the forest department's wildlife crime control bureau, who had met him posing as buyers.

A member of the team said they had met Mollah in front of his house in a lane close to Camelia Institute of Technology in Madhyamgram. He was accompanied by another man.

"The two demanded Rs 20 lakh for the reptile. While we were speaking to them, the other man might have sensed something amiss and ran away. Our officials chased him but he disappeared in another lane. We are looking for him and the person who had handed over the Tokay gecko to the two," the official said.

The forest department team got in touch with Mollah after being tipped off that he and the two others had entered into a deal with a Bangladeshi man to sell the gecko.

"The men had brought the gecko in a bag, which was kept inside a cardboard carton. The moment our officials identified the reptile, we arrested Mollah," said Mantu Kumar Deb, a beat officer who was part of the team.

Tokay geckos are found in rain forests in India (particularly in the Northeast), Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea.

Officials in the forest department said a gecko around 35.5cm long and weighing about 200g would fetch close to Rs 20 lakh in the international market. The one that was rescued on Wednesday was of similar dimensions.

Gecko parts are used in traditional Chinese medicines for cancer, asthma, diabetes and skin ailments. They are popular as pets as well.

The demand for geckos skyrocketed in the international market after word spread that they might help cure AIDS, a forest department official said.