A cache of tiger bones was seized from three persons in Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh raising concerns about international gangs of poachers being active in the area which has the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, a home to around 65 plus tigers.
The successful operation was carried out jointly by a team of officials from Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.
Indian Masterminds spoke with DFO of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, Mr. Naveen Khandelwal, an IFS officer of 2016 batch, to get more information about this case.
TIPPED OFF BY INFORMER
It was revealed by an informer that a person from the Nighasan district in Lakhimpur Kheri was planning to sell the bones of a tiger to a Nepalese smuggler. On the basis of this information, Special Task Force Uttar Pradesh formed a joint team that included Pilibhit Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau officials to crack the case. Members of the team contacted the man posing as buyers.
Mr. Khandelwal said, “We, along with STF and WCCB, tried to contact the culprits posing as buyers from Nepal. First, they agreed to meet us in Lakhimpur Kheri but then they suspected some foul play, so asked us to meet them in Dhangari in Nepal.”
Meeting these unknown men in Nepal would have foiled the carefully laid plans of the special team. So they started negotiating with the man to come to Pilibhit. After much discussions, the seller finally agreed and reached Pilibhit on 30 September with two associates.
“As soon as they reached an intersection in Piibhit via bus in the evening, our team captured them and bones of tiger (Panthera tigris) were recovered from them. One of them managed to run away but he was later caught at him home town with the help of the police in Lakhimpur Kheri,” Mr. Khandelwal said.
WAS THE TIGER POACHED?
On interrogation, it was found out that these men were members of a gang involved in smuggling of wildlife. Mr. Khandelwal said, “Prima facie the bones recovered from them appear to be of a tiger about 1.5 to 2 years old. However, this is being examined by experts.”
The accused said that they found a dead tiger in the Dudhwa buffer forest near village Trilokpur. “This village is near Palia. However, what they have said about finding a dead tiger needs to verified through independent investigation,” said Mr. Khandelwal.
So far, three culprits have been arrested, two on the same day, and the one who escaped, a day later. All three accused – Akshay Autar, Ram Chandra and Anil – are from Trilokpur area in Lakhimpur Kheri.
They told police during interrogation that tiger bones are sold to buyers from Nepal and China, where various types of potency enhancing medicines are made from the bones after grinding these into powder.
Police have registered charges against the accused under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
They are also investigating now if more people are involved and whether the gang members are part of an international organised gang dealing with illegal selling of wildlife parts.
PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES
After this incidence, the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve is being extra cautious to prevent entry of any poachers. “We are collecting CDR of the arrested culprits and their contacts, and analysing these with the help of the STF. We also have a wildlife criminal dossier which we have shared with all the agencies like police, SSB, STF, and even Nepal authorities,” Mr. Khandelwal said.
Other than these, the regular MSTRIPEs patrolling has been stepped up, and so is anti snare walks to remove all possible snare threats through metal detectors. Along with that, more e surveillance cameras have been installed in the park. Park officials are also holding regular joint meetings with the Shukala Phanta National Park in Nepal to share intelligence inputs.
