india

Updated: Jun 01, 2019 11:39 IST

The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau personnel seized a lion cub and three baby langurs after apprehending an SUV in West Bengal on Saturday.

According to initial reports, three persons were also apprehended.

“The vehicle was apprehended on Belghoria Expressway. It appears that these animals were being brought from Bangladesh to Kolkata from where they would have been transported to other parts of the country,” said Tilottama Varma, additional director of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.

The vehicle was seized in the wee hours around 2-3 am, said Varma.

Agni Mitra, deputy director in WCCB, could not recall any earlier instance when lion cubs were seized while being smuggled in to the country.

“We suspect the langurs might be white-headed langurs. If that be so, they are extremely rare,” said Mitra.

The WCCB officers seized the animals in a joint operation with the West Bengal forest department upon a tip off by sources.

Mitra said the animals were taken to a deer rahabilitation centre and from there, they will be taken to a zoo.

In November 2017, a lion cub was caught in Jessore in Bangladesh before it was brought into India.