Tiger poaching network stretches from West to Northeast

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Northeast, including Assam, is increasingly being used as a transit route to smuggle wildlife parts such as tiger skin and bones, with the network spreading from the West to the Northeast of the country.

This was revealed during an investigation into the smuggling of tiger parts by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) recently.

The investigation was initiated after four smugglers with tiger skin and bones were apprehended at Dharapur, on the outskirts of Guwahati, by a police team from Azara police station. The smugglers, along with tiger skin and bones, were handed over to the Forest Department.

The case turned out to have inter-state ramifications as the poaching was done at Gadchiroli in Maharashtra and the contraband was to be transported to Meghalaya for further delivery, while the smugglers were held near Guwahati, Assam. The tiger parts were traced back to the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. The final destination of the tiger parts remained unknown to the smugglers, who were tasked with delivering the wildlife parts to Meghalaya.

Considering the involvement of an organised network, the case was handed over to WCCB, and a case (No. G/1] of 2023) under sections 9/39/40/48A/49B/51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, was registered at the Sub-Regional Office of WCCB at Guwahati, and an investigation was launched.

The Special Task Force (STF) of Assam Police coordinated with West Karbi Anglong Police and assisted WCCB in the efforts to nab the other parties involved, and two more, identified as Rindik Teringpi, of Gita Langkok village under Baithalangshu police station in West Karbi Anglong district, and her son, namely Bidasingh Senar, were apprehended from West Karbi Anglong and Shillong, respectively.

Further investigation led to 13 more individuals being caught in the Gadchiroli-Chandrapur area of Maharashtra who had reportedly killed four tigers in the state, said WCCB sources. The WCCB continued its investigation to determine the links from source to destination. It appeared that there were a series of links in the chain, with one link unknown to the other. The investigation pointed to the involvement of some transnational illegal wildlife contraband trade.

According to Forest Department sources, the number of tiger deaths reported in the country this year, until July 22, was reported as: total deaths: 98, with 12 being cases of confirmed poaching.

The fact that Assam is a transit point for the illegal wildlife trade was confirmed in a report compiled by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), which also highlighted the international nature of the illegal trade and the fact that the Northeastern region is playing a pivotal role due to its porous international borders.

Wildlife trafficking is the fourth-largest form of transnational organised crime, after the smuggling of drugs, human trafficking, and counterfeit currency notes, the DRI report said.

According to the DRI’s Smuggling in India report 2020–21, India serves as both a source and a transit country for illegal wildlife and wildlife products.

Although of late there has been a decline in rhino horn trading from India, the trade in tiger parts seems to be continuing unabated. Trafficking in rhino horns, tiger parts, and pangolin scales is especially rampant on the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Myanmar-China borders, with northeastern cities such as Dimapur, Guwahati, and Imphal being used as transit sites.

The traditional medicine markets in China and Vietnam are major consumers of pangolin scales, rhino horns, and the skin and body parts of various big cats, including tigers.

However, several other factors have made the fight against the illegal wildlife trade increasingly difficult, according to the DRI report. Amongst these are the porous international borders with China, Myanmar, and other Southeast Asian countries, a growing aviation market and the fast-expanding airport sector, and the use of social media as online marketplaces by wildlife traffickers, the report says.

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