The Pune Police has arrested three people from Velhe for illegally procuring an endangered Pangolin from a Satara-based forest. The trio had planned to sell it in Pune for '70 lakh to two people. Yogesh Shivaji Bhodkar, 24, Vitthal Sahare, 26, and Arun Kusalkar, 25, were arrested by the Bharti Vidyapeeth police on Tuesday night under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code as well as the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

"The police were patrolling in the Velhe area on Tuesday evening when they noticed a car parked in a suspicious location and on searching the area, found the pangolin," said Senior Inspector Vishnu Pawar of Bharati Vidyapeeth police station. While the three accused were immediately caught, the two customers [Maruti Hanawale and Chetan Nirkute] managed to flee. Two of the arrested accused are farmers while Kusalkar is a driver.