Assam police bust smuggling racket, seize 11 rare lizards found only in..., were being sold at Rs...

The Special Task Force (STF) of Assam Police recovered and seized 11 Tokay Gecko lizards and apprehended three smugglers in Assam's Dibrugarh district on Friday, officials said. Rajib Saikia, CPRO of Assam police said that, based on a specific information regarding smuggling of Tokay Gecko lizard (Keko Saap) by some miscreants in Dibrugarh, the Assam police proceeded towards Dibrugarh on April 10 and on Friday (April 11) and got the information that the smugglers had planned to transport the Tokay Gecko from somewhere to Mohanbari area in Dibrugarh district. 

Assam police seize rare lizard

Accordingly, the STF team set up a trap at the Mohanbari area with the help of Dibrugarh district police and close operational and intelligence support from the Wildlife Justice Commission, South Asia Office. The team spotted three suspected smugglers at Sun Feast Dhaba at Mohanbari Tiniali. Two of them came in a white car and one came in a motorcycle. On interrogation, they disclosed their names as Debashis Dohutia (34 years old), Manash Dohutia (28 ) and Dipankar Gharphalia (40),” the CPRO of Assam police said. Observing all the formalities, the team searched the red-coloured backpack bags found in their possession and spotted 11 Tokay Geckos tied in equal numbers of nylon bags which they seized.  

During the search, the STF team found mobile phones and documents in the possession of the three apprehended persons and later seized them. “On-spot interrogation they revealed that they collected and brought the seized Tokay Gecko lizards from Arunachal Pradesh and finalised a deal to sell each of the Tokay Gecko for Rs 1 lakh,” the CPRO of Assam Police said.  

“The species is protected under schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, which is the highest protection. The maximum punishment is seven years RI, a cognizable and non-bailable offense. Export is completely banned. The species are found only in a few pockets in Arunachal Pradesh in India and a few pockets of Assam," the CPRO of Assam Police said. 

April 11, 2025

What is Tokay Geckos? 

Tokay Geckos have distinctive calls that sound like “tokay” or “gek-ko.” 

They are a larger gecko species, that have lengths of up to 12-15 inches (30-38 cm). Tokay Geckos are native to Southeast Asia, including countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines.