MADURAI: Forest officials in Madurai on Monday arrested a man for selling the scales of a pangolin, an endangered species that is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act.

The accused has been identified as S Baskaran, 35, of Kalmedu near Madurai. He belongs to the Narikurava community (a tribe of hunters).

Based on a tipoff, forest officials laid a trap for Baskaran. They lured him to Karupayurani area under the pretext of buying scales and caught him red-handed with 400 pangolin scales. (A fully grown pangolin has more than 900 scales covering its body.)

He was arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act and remanded in judicial custody.

District forest officer Nihar Ranjan said Baskaran had confessed to have poached the animal in the locality. "There is an illegal market for pangolin scales due to the belief that they have medicinal power," Ranjan said.