International wildlife trafficking gang busted in India
All the three arrested people have prior wildlife crime records
An Indian taskforce of the Madhya Pradesh forest department has busted an international wildlife trafficking gang, having arrested three of its members and retrieving several protected wildlife species.
The seized animals include baby gharials and red-crowned roofed turtles, a senior forest officer said on Sunday, says the Deccan Herald.
The taskforce officers intercepted a car near Joura in Morena district under Chambal region in the state late on Saturday night and seized 30 gharial hatchlings and 14 red-crowned roofed turtles, the forest officer said.
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Both the aquatic species are protected under Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act.
Three people were arrested in connection with the trafficking of the rare aquatic species.
They are Raju Adivasi, a resident of Muranipur in Uttar Pradesh, Vijay Gaur, a resident of Thatipur in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, and Ramveer Singh, a resident of Gwalior city, according to the forest officer.
All the three arrested people have prior wildlife crime records.
"They are suspected to be part of the international wildlife trafficking network. Probe is on into the matter", the forest officer said, unwilling to be quoted.
Acting on inputs from the three arrested people, the Special Tiger Strike Force (STSF) teams conducted raids at a place in Gwalior city on Sunday morning and seized three red-crowned roofed turtles and 19 three-striped roofed turtles, he added.
"We cannot elaborate more on the raids in Gwalior at this stage since more people are suspected to be involved in the illicit business", the forest officer said.
The gang had been under the vigil of the STSF headed by senior wildlife officer Ritesh Sirothia for the past six months, the forest officer said.
Sources said the wildlife species were being smuggled from the National Chambal Sanctuary spanning over three states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
Rare aquatic species are being smuggled to South East Asia and Western countries through the international wildlife trafficking route of India- Bangladesh- Myanmar- China, the forest officer said.
They are used as exotic pet trade and traditional medicines including aphrodisiacs.
