Bagalkot: Four persons, including a self-styled godman, were nabbed by police in Bagalkot for allegedly selling monitor lizard genitalia to infertile women as a cure.
The arrested accused are identified as Sanna Eerappa Jammanna (46), the godman, and his associates, Basappa Siddagiri Bilagi (33), Eerappa Bandeppa Jirali (61) and his son Pavan Eerappa Jirali (29).
All of the accused have been sent to judicial custody.
According to the forest officials, the godman would advise the women to worship the lizard genitals after a ritual.
The four were arrested in a joint operation by the police and the forest department in Bagalkot’s Bilgi taluk.
The operation, which was conducted based on a tip-off, led to the recovery of 503 sea fans and 498 lizard genitals. Both these animals are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act.
The godman was apparently procuring the wildlife artefacts through Basappa, who ran a small shop with his son. He would then recomment his followers, mainly the women, to purchase items from Basappa’s shop.
According to police sources, the four have been evasive about how they procured the wild animals. They are yet to acertain the motive of the accused and the investigation is ongoing.
