Bagalkot: Bagalkot forest officials arrested four persons including a self-proclaimed godman for selling Bengal monitor lizard genitals to women wanting to conceive.
The arrested are Sanna Eerappa Jammanna (46), Basappa Siddagiri Bilagi (33), Eerappa Bandeppa Jirali (61) and his son Pavan Eerappa Jirali (29), all residents of Bagalkot.
Sanna Eerappa who claimed to be a godman used to provide solutions for women wanting to conceive by procuring lizard genitals through Basappa from Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh.
Eerappa would sit near temples where devotees would approach him seeking divine intervention to gain wealth and prosperity. He would give them sea fans (invertebrate sea animals) and ask them to tie them to their doors.
When women wanting to conceive can near him asking for a solution, he would be asked to get lizard genitals from Bandeppa Eerappa's shop. The godman would perform pujas to the lizard genitals before giving them to the women, who were asked to worship them at home.
Bagalkot forest officials after learning about this approached Basappa as customers, he asked the officials to pay Rs 2 lakh for the consignment.
Basappa was arrested when he came to deliver it and eventually arrested others.
