Snapdeal, other e-commerce companies get notices for selling wildlife items

Snapdeal and other e-commerce companies such as India Mart, Wish and Buy and Craft Comparison have been slapped notices by the Madhya Pradesh Tiger Strike Force. The online marketplaces have been accused of selling wildlife products on their portals.

"MP Tiger Strike Force has served notices to Snapdeal, India Mart, Wish and Buy and Craft Comparison for selling wildlife related items on their websites. The companies were told to remove all such content and to submit a clarification as to why an action should not be initiated against them," a state public relations department official has said.

The tiger strike force confiscated items such as 'hattha-jodi' and 'siyar-singhi' (used in black magic) made out of wild animals' limbs from the premises of a company called, Shubh Bhakti, in Indore's Vijay Nagar in June.

The company owners - Sumit Sharma and Firoz Ali - were arrested and a case was registered against them under the Wild Life Protection Act.

"During interrogation, the accused told that they were into trading of puja (worship) materials and are also into sale of wildlife related items," the official said.

The duo said that they sold these products like 'hattha-jodi' in a large quantity to people at a high price.

During interrogation, the accused confessed that they sold these wild life related items through portals - Snapdeal, India Mart, Wish and Buy, and Craft Comparison.

Initially, the accused defended themselves by claiming that the items are not related to wildlife, and are made up of roots of plants.

However, a forensic examination confirmed that the products were wildlife items, the official said.