Archives: Crime

At least 130 leopards have been poached in India this year, say experts calling the figures “alarming”. Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra recorded the highest number of leopard deaths, stated the NGO Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). There have been reports of 240 leopard deaths so far. Across the country, 17 leopards were killed in man-animal conflict, 19 died in road accidents, eight were shot dead by the forest department, six died in rescue operations, two killed by other big cats, while 58 more were found dead, says WPSI. The rest of the deaths are feared to have been caused by poaching.

Don't Buy Trouble — is the latest word of caution to globetrotters expected to descend on the national capital during the 12-day Commonwealth Games. TRAFFIC India has released four brand new public service announcements (PSAs ) as part of its ongoing “Don’t Buy Trouble” campaign that advises tourists to be careful of what they buy as souvenirs during their travels to India. The message comes in the form of four eye-catching posters.

Peacocks, sambars and deer for lunch and dinner. And a bison too, even if it means you shoot 22 times at it to get its meat. All with a .22 rifle. Shocked at the revelations by a gang trapped for poaching in Nagarahole and Bandipur parks, the forest department is now mulling over a ban on entry of private vehicles into the state's rich forest areas popular among tourists, reveals a Times of India report. Sophisticated and educated, this group of young poachers is only one of the many groups that enter the protected area on the pretext of tourism but hunts down several wild animals. Poacher Salman's group which was nabbed on Saturday for poaching hundreds of deer has revealed that there are several other such groups. The shocking details:

The Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Bihar has a new challenge — to crack a case involving death of a tigress, says a Telegraph report. For the first time in Bihar, the CID will probe into the death of an adult tigress at Valmiki Tiger Reserve. Chief wildlife warden Mithilesh Kumar recently gave his nod to the formal request from the tiger reserve’s project director J.P. Gupta for a CID probe into the incident. Kumar has sent the proposal to the principal chief conservator of forest Bashir Ahmed Khan, who in turn, would forward it to the home department. “The formal request for conducting a CID inquiry into the death of the tigress would soon be sent to the home department,” Khan told The Telegraph.

India's most infamous poacher Sansar Chand has been found guilty of violations of the Wildlife (Protection) Act by a Delhi court. The poacher had been caught red-handed with a leopard skin about 15 years ago. Sansar Chand is said to be the main person behind the devastation of the Sariska tiger reserve. The judgement was given by the court of the additional chief metropolitan magistrate (Special Acts) Digvinay Singh on Saturday and the sentence is scheduled to be announced on August 25. Sansar Chand who is currently serving a sentence in a Jaipur jail is likely to be sentenced again. The case pertains to the seizure of one leopard skin from Sansar’s possession in an operation carried out by a team from Police Station Sadar Bazar on July 17, 1995, in the Indian capital.

The authorities of Orang National Park Saturday night apprehended a group of four rhino poachers, including an alleged poacher from Nagaland, from Bihudia village on the fringe area of the park, says a Telegraph report. Md Joynaluddin, alias Junu, Md Abbas Ali, Lamkholen and Alen Khonsai were about to enter the park when they were apprehended. Lamkholen is from the Manja Bazaar area in Karbi Anglong and Alen from Burah Bazar in Dimapur.

India and Nepal have signed an agreement to jointly protect wildlife in the Himalayan region along the border, an wildlife conservation society official said, according to Indo-Asian News Service (IANS). Besides jointly guarding forests, the two neighbours will coordinate the implementation of their national action plans to protect tigers, rhinos and elephants, said Samir Sinha, head of TRAFFIC India, which works for protecting tigers. The two countries agreed to strengthening the capacity of personnel involved in wildlife conservation, by intensifying the joint patrolling along the border, he said.

Notorious tiger poacher Dariya and his wife Bhagwati were convicted under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 Wednesday by Justice A.K. Dwivedi, Judicial Magistrate First Class in Sihora, Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh. The trial of this case has been pending for more than 21 years. The prosecution of this case was conducted on behalf of the Forest Department by Advocate Ms Manjula Shrivastava, a lawyer of the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI).