A 50-year-old woman has been arrested near the Bangladesh border in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district for smuggling the endangered Tokay gecko lizards, the BSF said on Tuesday.
Amrita Pal was arrested and seven geckos were seized from her late Monday night under the Amudia border outpost area in the district, said a Border Security Force (BSF) officer.
"The woman carrying a bag was approaching towards India from Bangladesh when she was challenged by a BSF team. She tried to escape but was caught. We seized seven gecko lizards from inside the bag," said the officer.
The accused, a resident of Swarupnagar in the district, has been handed over to police.
Smuggled to southeast Asian countries for medicinal use, the geckos command a high price in the international market.
The hunting and trading of Tokay geckos is prohibited under Wildlife Protection Act and it has been included in the list of endangered species.