New Delhi: A passenger travelling from Delhi to Hyderabad was held at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) after CISF personnel found a monkey skull concealed inside his hand baggage during pre-embarkation security screening Monday. The skull has been seized.A CISF official stated that considering the nature of the item and its suspected connection with wildlife, the passenger was handed over to the local police for further legal action under the provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.Officials said the matter was being investigated to ascertain if the skull was for ritualistic purposes or for trafficking animal artefacts. “The opinion of the wildlife department is essential in all such matters to establish what the object in question is and whether carrying it amounts to a violation of any law. Legal action, if made out, is then taken accordingly.”Authorities at the Delhi airport have prevented smuggling of animals or their parts in the past. A man carrying the head of a deer in his hand luggage was held in July last year. The wildlife trophy was seized and handed over to the Delhi forest and wildlife department.In Feb last year, three men were arrested at IGI Airport after they arrived from Bangkok for allegedly attempting to smuggle over 60 live species of creatures in checked baggage.Similarly, a Canadian national was apprehended at the airport in Jan last year after he was found carrying the severed head of a baby crocodile. During inspection, the man claimed that he had purchased the item while he was in Bangkok.In 2022, two African grey parrots, which were brought from Africa to the Delhi airport by a Congo national, were seized. These birds, which were critically endangered, were handed over to the Delhi zoo.
