HT Digital,
Dibrugarh, Dec 21: Assam forest department intercepted an alleged smuggling operation at Dibrugarh airport on Thursday, seizing 500 Channa Barca fishes. The officials estimate the worth of the seized fishes to be approximately Rs 4.5 crores in the international markets.
Initial reports suggest that Sridhan Sarkar and Jiten Sarkar, under the banner of Kolkata-based Choudhury Enterprises, were attempting to smuggle these exotic fishes via an IndiGo flight from Dibrugarh airport.
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The accused duo reportedly purchased the fish from rural sellers in the Guijan area of Tinsukia district, Assam, at a price of Rs 400 per kilogram. They allegedly planned to smuggle the fish to South East Asian countries including Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, and China.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma confirmed the seizure on his social media account, hailing it as one of the biggest exotic fish seizures in recent times. The Channa Barca, also known as the Barca snakehead, is a rare species of snakehead fish native to the upper Brahmaputra river basin in northeastern India and Bangladesh. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) assessed it as critically endangered in Bangladesh in 2014.
