Assam: The officials of the Forest Department here on Thursday seized around 500 "Channa Barca" fish, valued at Rs 4.5 crore, from the Dibrugarh airport when the aquatic animals were being smuggled to Kolkata.

Divisional Forest Officer BV Sandeep said that in response to a tip-off, forest officials confiscated the shipment of the locally known endangered "Cheng garka" fish and detained the driver of the car that had transported it to the airport.

The fish referred to as "Channa Barca" are protected under Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act.

This unique species of snakehead fish is exclusive to Bangladesh and northeast's upper Brahmaputra river basin.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the fish was classified as severely endangered in 2014 in Bangladesh.

The forest official said that the fish would be released again in the river. IANS/SP