The Adugodi police arrested three men who were allegedly smuggling a red sand boa in a car to sell to prospective customers in Bangalore.
Raju (22), from Velur district of Tamil Nadu, and his associates Harish (25) and Ganesh (26) from Lakkasandra here were picked up when the police saw them driving around suspiciously. Upon interrogation, they said they had smuggled the snake from Tamil Nadu to sell it here for a big sum as it is believed to bring good luck.
On Thursday, a BBMP forest cell warden was allegedly beaten up by beat constables of Madivala police when he refused to hand over to them a red sand boa rescued from a house in Bommanahalli.
Though the victim, Manjunath, had filed a complaint against the constables, the Madivala police termed it as mistaken identity and pressured the forest official to withdraw the complaint.