India, May 3 -- The Uttarakhand police on Friday rescued a red sand boa snake and arrested three men who were allegedly smuggling the protected species, listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

The accused - Anil Kumar (40) from Haryana's Kurukshetra district, Ashok Kumar (50) from Yamunanagar district, and Sandeep Kumar (41) from Haridwar district - reportedly members of the Ladwa Gang, an international wildlife smuggling network, had brought the snake from Haryana to sell it in Dehradun.

"The recovered species of snake is valued at approximately Rs.1 crore in the international market," an officer said.

The red sand boa (Eryx johnii), a rare non-venomous snake, is listed under the IUCN (International Union for Conserv...