Bengaluru police on Tuesday arrested a man who was trying to sell a 2.5-feet-long crocodile hatchling to a restaurant.

The police caught the 25-year-old man named Anand, who hailed from Mantralaya in Andhra Pradesh, based on a tipoff that he had been walking on Dubai Plaza road off Brigade Road with a hatchling, said a police source.

He has been charged under sections of The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The crocodile has been sent to a veterinary hospital near Cubbon Park and they would rehabilitate the rescued reptile after consulting with the forest department.