Mohana: A rare species of rat was rescued by the officials of Forest Department from a hotel in Odisha’s Gajapati district on Sunday.
Based on a tip off, a special team of Chandragiri Forest Range conducted a raid on Hotel Rajput situated at Luhagudi Chhaka of the district and rescued the rare species of rat, which was locked inside a cage.
Apart from rescuing the rat, owner of the hotel, Bharat Bisoyee, was also detained on the charge of illegally keeping the rats. Currently, he is undergoing interrogation.
As per the in Schedule-I under the Wildlife Act 1972, it is illegal to keep such wildlife.
Meanwhile, the forest department has filed a case in this connection, informed Paralakhemundi Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) adding that the rare rat will be sent to the Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar after some medical check-up.
Ms Kalinga