Four persons were arrested and a pangolin was rescued fromtheir possession on Saturday evening by a team of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau(WCCF) in Dudhnoi, Goalpara.

The arrested persons have been identified as Banikanta Rabha, Nazrul Islam, Inamul Hoque, and Alad Hussain.

They were arrested from a roadside Dhaba near a railwayover-bridge in Dudhnoi town and were landed handed over to the forestdepartment.

Reportedly, the kingpin of the gang, identified as LengraGaro, managed to escape. Garo, a resident of Krishnai, had brought the pangolinfrom Meghalaya to Assam.

"Garo has asked me to carry the bag to the Dhaba. I did notknow the bag had a pangolin inside," said Banikanta Rabha- from whosepossession the endangered animal was recovered.

Commenting on the incident ranger of Rongjuli forest rangeBalen Das said, "A WCCF team was keeping strict watch in areas near theAssam-Meghalaya border for mitigating wildlife smuggling."Das further reported that the arrested personswill be produced before the court on Monday.