Several rare and endangered animals, including two kangaroos and chimpanzees, have been rescued by the police on Thursday while they were being trafficked through the state and two persons suspected to be a part of an international racket detained in Assam's Kamrup district, an officer said.
Acting on a tip-off, the police intercepted two SUVs in Society Chowk of Rangia on National Highway 31 and rescued the animals kept in vehicles, the officer said. During the search of the vehicles, the police found two kangaroos and chimpanzees, 18 endangered species of tortoises, 19 monkeys of various species, including the Slow Loris and hoolock gibbons from the traffickers and two endangered species of bird.
The vehicles had "Army" written on the front glass and the traffickers also produced fake army identity cards. The two detained persons have been identified as Raghu and Karthick and the vehicles were suspected to be coming from Mizoram with the animals trafficked from Myanmar.
The operation was conducted by the Officer in Charge of Rangia police station Bhaskar Malla Patowary. The rescued animals were later handed over to the authorities of the State Zoo at Guwahati with the help of the Kamrup Forest Division. The trafficked animals are usually sold in the international market with North East India serving as a transit route for the traffickers.
(With PTI inputs)
