New Delhi: Two kingpins of illegal wildlife poaching and trade were arrested in a joint operation by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), officers of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Wildlife Warden and local police in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday (January 30), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change informed.
The raids were conducted simultaneously in Anantnag area of Srinagar valley and Manwal in the Jammu region on Friday, the Environment Ministry said in a statement.
In one of the largest seizures made in recent years, during the Anantnag raid, eight leopard pelts, 38 bear biles, four musk pods were seized from Gul Mohammad Ganie in Sherpura. While five leopard pelts, seven leopard nails, eight canines, two molars, two leopard skulls, four leopard jaw bones, 140 bones pieces and a musk tooth were recovered in Manwal of Jammu region Kushal Hussain at Kingriyal in Jammu.
A case has also been registered in the Anantnag police station, the statement from the Environment Ministry stated.
As per the preliminary investigation, both the offenders arrested were partners in the Illegal Wildlife Trade.
Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change took to Twitter to applaud the team of WCCB for their success. He tweeted, “Kudos to the team of @WCCBHQ , J&K police and the Forest department for their successful operation and arresting 2 main kingpins involved in illegal wildlife trafficking in the J&K region. Keep up the continued commitment towards ending wildlife crime.”
Kudos to the team of @WCCBHQ , J&K police and the Forest department for their successful operation and arresting 2 main kingpins involved in illegal wildlife trafficking in the J&K region.
Keep up the continued commitment towards ending wildlife crime. https://t.co/v4u0cYDWm8
— Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) January 30, 2021
Wildlife animals like leopard, bear and musk deer come under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Poaching of these animals and trading their byparts is a punishable offence with a minimum three years of imprisonment, which is extendable up to seven years.
