Silchar: Forest department officials seized around 1.5kg of pangolin scales and arrested a man on charges of suspected wildlife trafficking at Dhalakhal along the Assam-Mizoram border in Cachar district.The accused was identified as Nihar Uddin Barbhuiya, a resident of Shyamacharanpur under the Dholai area. Forest department sources said Barbhuiya was intercepted during a routine checking drive at Dhalakhal. A search allegedly led to the recovery of the scales.Barbhuiya was arrested with police assistance and produced before a court, which remanded him in judicial custody following an FIR by the forest department.Pangolins are protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and hunting or trading in their body parts is a punishable offence.
