Five accused arrested for smuggling ivory, leopard and bear skin

The forest department team has achieved a major success against wildlife smugglers in Balrampur district. The forest department team has arrested five accused involved in smuggling of ivory and leopard-bear skins. To prevent wildlife crimes in the state and to catch the people involved in it and take strict action against them, a continuous campaign is being conducted under the direction of Forest and Climate Change Minister Shri Kedar Kashyap and guidance of Principal Chief Forest Conservator and Forest Force Chief Shri V. Srinivas Rao. 

Based on confidential information received by the forest department staff, this operation was successfully carried out jointly by the state level flying squad in-charge Mr. Sandeep Singh, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (Central Zone) Bhopal and the team of Balrampur Forest Division in the Wadrafnagar and Ramanujganj forest areas bordering Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand on 27 and 28 December.

According to the information received, three accused Laxman father Devprasad, Mohan father Premlal and Dildar father Gurudev were arrested in Wadrafnagar forest range while smuggling ivory. Two ivory teeth, three mobile phones and a scooty were recovered from their possession. Forest Range Officer Wadrafnagar has started the investigation process in this case. Similarly, two leopard skins, one bear skin, two mobile phones, one motorcycle and one scooty were recovered from Anil Kumar father Bhagwandas Sharma and Rambachan father Shivram in Ramanujganj forest range.

All the arrested accused have been booked under various sections of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief of Forest Force Shri V. Srinivas Rao has appealed to the public to immediately report wildlife crimes, smuggling or suspicious activities to the department so that prompt and effective action can be taken against the culprits.