Overview
- DRI acted on intelligence from NGO CARE, whose member posed as a client before a Jan. 10 raid on the suspect’s Nagashettyhalli home.
- Officials seized 206 monitor lizard genitals, 1.5 kg of soft coral, a tiger skin, and other items linked to ritual practices.
- Dakshna (Dakshina) Murthy, 45, was booked under multiple sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act and remains in custody.
- The seized articles were handed to Bannerghatta forest officials for examination to confirm provenance and support prosecution.
- Investigators say the accused sold items through social media to a following of about 25,000 and may have sourced them via the Hakki Pikki community in Tamil Nadu.