Wildlife Crimes Must be Probed by Specialized Teams of Investigators: Justice N.Kotiswar Singh

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, Jan 18: The senior-most Judge of the Gauhati High Court, Justice N.Kotiswar Singh has said that the Assam Police as well as the State Forest department must have specialized teams of wildlife-crime investigators.

Addressing a consultation on wildlife conservation organized jointly by premier biodiversity conservation and research organization — Aaranyak — and Assam State Legal Services Authority (ASLSA) in the eastern Range of Kaziranga National Park (KNP) on Sunday, Justice Singh pointed out that it was indeed very difficult to deal with wildlife crimes given that Police and Forest personnel were not given any specific training for it. Justice Singh is also the Executive Chairman of ASLSA.

He further said that the society as a whole must remain awake to the need and face the challenge to protect wildlife given that human beings with comparatively more intelligent capabilities have the responsibility as a leader of the Earth to protect all other species thriving on the planet.

"Most cases related to wildlife crimes must be convincingly supported by seizures (like cases under NDPS Act) in the Court of law to ensure adequate punishment to the guilty persons. Hence, there is the need for having specialized teams of wildlife-crime investigators in the Police force as well as among the Forest officials," said Justice Singh.

Addressing the consultation, Justice TasiRabstant from the Jammu & Kashmir High Court said, "We have to realise the importance of wildlife for ecological balance. All lives on Earth are interrelated and interdependent. The main enemy of wildlife is no one else but the human being. It needs tremendous coordination among the members of the society and wildlife protection agencies for effective conservation of wildlife on this Earth,"

Taking part in the consultation, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Kaziranga National Park (KNP) Ramesh Gogoi also pointed out that it is quite a challenging task to protect wildlife, adding that the positive attitude and cooperation from the villagers in the fringe areas are of prime importance in this regard.

He further said that each national park and tiger reserve in Assam has a unique set of challenges dealing with the conservation of wildlife and its protection. "In general, Forest personnel entrusted with multi-tasking besides having to deal with legal provisions vis-à-vis wildlife crime cases remain big challenges for most of the Forest officials.

Raising alarm over the growing intolerance among people and the 'mob-mentality' towards the straying wildlife species in the State, the DFO pointed out that such approaches make the tasks much more difficult for the Forest personnel. He further called for restraint on the part of media so that the Forest personnel could smoothly carry out their responsibilities in an emergency situation.

The Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Bokakhat Sub-Division, PrithvirajRajkhowa flagged the need for setting up of a Wildlife Crime Police Station in KNP with jurisdiction all over Assam for more efficient handling of wildlife crimes. He called for a pan-India support system to deal with such crimes and trade in wildlife parts.

District and Sessions Judge of Cachar District, DarakUllah who had presided over the Fast Track Court in Sonitpur for wildlife crimes, recounted his experience in dealing with such cases. He suggested that the Forest department should appoint a Liaison Officer in the Court of law with respect to cases concerning wildlife crimes.

He said, "It is of prime importance for the Forest Department to facilitate proper maintenance of the register of seized items – the most valuable evidences in wildlife-crime cases."

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aaranyak, DrBibhab Kumar Talukdar who is a globally acclaimed rhino-conservation expert, made a Power Point Presentation during the consultation to highlight the global scenarios on wildlife crimes and its impact on Assam in particular and Northeast India — a biodiversity hotspot.

ASLSA Member Secretary NayanSankarBaruah provided an opportunity for the representatives of Village Defence Organizations (VDOs) present in the consultation to air the challenges they face while helping the Police and Forest departments while dealing with wildlife crimes.

Besides representatives of at least 15 VDOs from the Bokakhat Subdivision who work for wildlife protection around the KNP, also present during the consultation were the District and Sessions Judge of Golaghat district, Vinod Kumar Chandak, Additional District and Sessions Judge of Kamrup (Metro) district MallikaDutta, Chief Judicial Magistrate of Golaghat district, KiranLalBaishnav, Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate of Bokakhat and ALSA Deputy Secretary Tripti Ari.

Secretary of District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) Golaghat, Narayan Kuri coordinated the consultation.

Aaranyak distributed working lights (torch lights) among the VDO representatives attending the consultation. These lights were sponsored by the 'David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation' (DSWF) and 'Nabu International'.

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