RAMESH KUMAR POUDEL CHITWAN, Aug 22: In an interesting development, a musk pod caught by the police in Chitwan last month has been proved as a bogus one by the National Forensic Science Laboratory in Kathmandu. In its report, the lab has concluded that the sample forwarded by the district authorities for the forensic test was a part of the musk deer but not its musk pod. On 23 July, the Chitwan Police had arrested four people including two Indian nationals on charge of carrying the musk pod, and had sent a sample of the pod to the lab. But, the entire room of a guest house from where the authorities had seized a packet containing the animal part had reeked of musk, according to media reports filed following the raid carreid out by the District Forest Office. “Whatever the forensic test shows is the reality. As far as the smell is concerned, they might have kept some musk perfume in the packet for a long time,” said Ganesh Jha, officer at the District Forest Office in Chitwan. It is not the first time that the wildlife parts caught in the district have been proved as bogus by the National Forensic Science Lab. Numerous such cases related to ´fake´ rhino horns have been reported in the past. But it is probably the first such case of a musk pod. The illegal trade of musk pod, an aromatic substance secreted from the naval gland of the musk deer, is on the rise in the district with a large population of the musk deer as it used in making perfumes and medical products in different parts of the world. Meanwhile, after the lab report, two Nepalis - Mohan Prasad Sah, 52, and Ram Bharos Sah, of Birganj - arrested along with the animal part have been released on the bail. They have paid a bail amount of Rs 28,000 each. The District Forest Office has, however, sent the two Indian nationals - Mehandi Hasan, 50 and Bharat Baniya, 30, of Nautanwa in Utter Pradesh - to Bharatpur prison for further investigation in connection with the trade of wildlife part. The District Forest Office informed that it generally initiate action against the people arrested with wild animal parts only after the forensic test. “Had the musk pod turned genuine in the test, the arrested would have been tried as per the Section 26 of National Parks and Wild Life Conservation Act (1973),” Jha informed. It stipulates a fine ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 rupees or five to fifteen years of imprisonment or both. As the test has been negative, Jha added, the arrested have been charged under the Section 26(6) of the Wildlife Conservation Act (1973). (Source : Myepublica)