Varanasi: A Russian passenger was caught with antlers of Barasingha (swamp deer) during baggage scanning at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi on Sunday. He was boarding a flight to Bangkok. He was later handed over to the forest department for investigation.Divisional forest officer, social forestry division, Swati Srivastava, said prima facie antlers appear to be of swamp deer — an endangered deer species found in the Indian subcontinent. But the final examination will be done by a team of experts, she said, adding that the future course of action will be decided once the species of animal is ascertained.The security personnel at the LBSI Airport were busy in their routine exercise of baggage scanning when they noticed suspicious articles inside the bag of a Russian national who had to board a Bangkok flight. The passenger was stopped and officials of the customs department were called. When the bag was opened, a pair of antlers was recovered. TNN
