16 persons nabbed on basis of inputs from arrested poachers in Assam
24 Jul 2023 08:05:06
Staff Reporter
On the basis of the information received from the three arrested North India-based tiger poachers in Assam, a joint team of Forest and Police Departments nabbed 16 persons from Ambeshivni village in Gadchiroli on Sunday. Of the arrested, six are males, five are female and five are children. The joint team also seized six traps, sharp-edged weapons, three tiger nails, mobile phones, and Rs 46,000 from them during the operation. A three-member team of the Forest Department recently visited Guwahati in Assam to interrogate the three arrested poachers. After interacting with them, the team got the information about the presence of the gang in Gadchiroli district. Acting swiftly on the information, a joint team was formed comprising forest officials from Melghat Tiger Reserve, Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, and Chandrapur and Gadchiroli Forest Divisions. After forming the team, the Forest Department informed Police Department and jointly conducted the raid in the wee hours of Sunday.
On the basis of the information received from the State Government, the Forest Department teams also arrested a few accused from Karim Nagar in Telangana and Dhule district of Maharashtra. For this inter-state operation, the Maharashtra Forest Department got support from Telangana Police and Forest Departments. According to Forest Department, all the accused who nabbed by them are from Haryana and Punjab states. For further investigation of the case, a Special Task Force has been formed by the Forest Department. Assistant Conservator of Forest of Gadchiroli has been appointed as enquiry officer of the case. After the successful operations in Gadchiroli, Dhule and Karim Nagar areas, all the accused have been charged under Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and the further investigation is on.
The operation was took place under the supervision of Mahip Gupta, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Maharashtra. Jyoti Banerjee, Chief Conservator of Forest and Field Director, Melghat; Dr Jitendra Ramgaonkar, Field Director, TATR; Ramesh Kumar, Conservator of Forest, Gadchiroli Forest Division; Ravindra Singh Pardeshi, Superintendent of Police, Chandrapur; Nilotpal, SP, Gadchiroli; Kushagra Pathak, Deputy Director (Buffer); Nandkishor Kale, Deputy Director (Core), Milish Dutt Sharma, Deputy Conservator of Forest, Gadchiroli; Naigamkar; Satish Shende; Aakash Sarda; Mukesh Jawarkar; Dinesh Kendre; other officials of Forest and Police Departments were the part of the operation.