Joint squad to curb wildlife crimes

Forest guards examine the carcass of a rhino killed by poachers in Kaziranga National Park. File picture

Jorhat, Feb. 20: Representatives of law enforcement agencies in Assam, Nagaland and Manipur have joined hands to set up a wildlife crime control unit with focus on National Highway 39 that connects the three states with Myanmar and is a key route for illegal trade in animal anatomy.

A meeting, organised by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and ministry of environment and Nagaland forest department at Dimapur in Nagaland yesterday, identified National Highway 39 as a major transit route in the country for trade in wildlife products.

It decided that law enforcing agencies and army and paramilitary forces should join hands to check wildlife crime along the route.

The newly formed unit will have representatives from the army, BSF, Assam Rifles, CRPF, the state police, transportation agencies – aviation, rail and surface transport – and customs and forest departments of the three states.

“Guidelines will be prepared for the proper functioning of this platform soon and there will be total co-ordination among these agencies to share information regarding wildlife crime,” a senior forest department official in Nagaland, who attended the meeting, told The Telegraph today.

This was the first high-level meeting organised by the wildlife crime control bureau (eastern region) where representatives of various law enforcement agencies met to deal with the increasing wildlife crime in the region.

The formation of this exclusive unit comes in the wake of reports of involvement of militant groups in the crimes.

The Assam forest department recently claimed that militant groups were involved in the latest incidents of rhino killings at Kaziranga National Park.

The national park authorities also claimed that militants use sophisticated weapons like AK-47 and light machine guns during encounters with forest guards.

Satya Prakash Tripathi, the chief wildlife warden of Nagaland, said an exclusive unit to control wildlife crime was the need of the hour, as forest departments and wildlife crime control units have limited resources, coupled with the problem of insurgency in the region.

While asserting that the region was turning into a hotbed of wildlife crime and the national highway a major transit route of wildlife products to the international market, Tripathi said only recently a consignment of star tortoises and ivory was recovered from Dimapur.

“Wildlife products from the region and other parts of the country find their way to the international market through National Highway 39 via Moreh in Manipur bordering Myanmar,” he said.

Assam has also witnessed a sharp increase in incidents of rhino killings in the last few years.

This year, five rhinos have fallen prey to poachers in the state.

Most of these rhino horns were believed to have been moved out of the country through the international border in Manipur.

M. Sonowal, deputy inspector-general (BSF), Manipur, while welcoming the formation of the new unit, said all law enforcement agencies operating in the region should exchange information.

“Intelligence sharing could play a major role in dealing with such crimes,” he said.

Another forest official in Nagaland said wildlife products found their way into the international market also through Churachandpur in Manipur and Mizoram, apart from Moreh.

Chaturbhuja Behera, the regional deputy director, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (eastern region), addressed the gathering at the meeting and said all law enforcement agencies should do their bit to protect the rich bio-diversity of the nation.

While informing the gathering about the ongoing trends in wildlife trade across the country and the prevalent modus operandi of the traders, Behera said it was time that all of them worked together to check such crimes.

“The demand for wildlife products, especially rhino horn, has increased in the international market and there has been an increase in rhino killings in recent times,” he said.

He appealed to the representatives at the meeting to contribute in whatever way possible to stop wildlife crime and trade in the country, particularly in the northeastern region.

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