81-yr-old ex-WPSI field officer held in Gadchiroli
| Date :02-Aug-2023 |
Staff Reporter :
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and a forest team of Gadchiroli Circle jointly conducted a raid in Gadchiroli district on Monday, and arrested a key member of the inter-state tiger poaching racket. The arrested person, an 81-year-old ex-field officer of Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), identified as Mishram Jhakad, was suspected to have close links with the poachers’ syndicate. Jhakad was arrested along with a cash of Rs 14.80 lakh. During interrogation, a WPSI identity card was also recovered from him. Interrogation revealed that Jhakad controlled and dictated the poaching and illegal trade of tiger body parts. He not only sponsored the illegal trade syndicate, but also had been extorting huge money from poachers and smugglers by blackmailing them.
WCCB, some time ago, had issued a red alert to all Tiger Reserves and tiger bearing areas of Central India to intensify patrolling, and sanitise them from the North India based hunting gangs. Based on the credible inputs, on June 28, a tiger skin and bones were seized and five offenders arrested at Guwahati by Assam Forest and police officials. The Assam Forest Department transferred the case to WCCB for investigation as the case showed involvement of members from multiple states. The WCCB constituted an SIT to investigate the Guwahati tiger skin and bone seizure. The preliminary interrogation of the offenders showed that the tiger body parts seized belonged to Gadchiroli area. The WCCB shared the findings obtained through initial interrogations with the Maharashtra Forest Department officials. Based on WCCB inputs, 10 members of a hunting gang belonging to a tribal community from North India were arrested from Gadchiroli. Leg-hold traps and tiger body parts were also recovered. One of the offenders wanted in the Guwahati seizure case was also arrested from Gadchiroli.
Based on the interrogation of the offender arrested in Guwahati and Gadchiroli, WCCB got inputs about Jhakad. Acting on the inputs, the joint team swung into action and arrested Jhakad, who confessed that he had worked in the Wildlife Wing of the Forest Department, NCT, Delhi Government. A case has been registered under section 9/39/48/49A/50/51/52 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and he was produced before the court. In response to the transit remand filed to take him to Gadchiroli, along with his associates, for further interrogation, the court has granted him a transit bail, considering his age. However, it directed the accused to appear before the court and the Investigation Officer in such date and time he is asked. Along with Maharashtra forest officials, the WCCB SIT is conducting an indepth probe into the tiger poaching and illegal trade network under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Jhakad worked with WPSI just for three months in 2010 AFTER the arrest of an accused by WCCB on Monday in Gadchiroli, Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) has issued a clarification about the accused who was also a former field officer of WPSI. “This man was introduced to us by two wildlife inspectors of the Delhi Government who requested us to give him a job. With this recommendation WPSI employed him as a field officer initially for three months. Due to budget constraints his services were terminated way back in 2010,” said Nitin Desai, Director, WPSI, Central India. “Since 2010 he occasionally telephoned WPSI and gave information on poaching and illegal wildlife traders,” Desai claimed. “Any actionable information was immediately passed on to enforcement agencies, as soon as it was received. As responsible citizens, we are well aware that it is our duty to inform government agencies of any such criminal activity, so that appropriate action can be taken,” he said. “We have no knowledge whatsoever of any illegal activities he might have carried out since then,” Central India Director told ‘The Hitavada’