Four youths of Pithoragarh were caught with tiger skin and 15 kg of bones in Udham Singh Nagar on Saturday night. After which the forest department has come on alert mode fearing smuggling of wildlife organs from Pithoragarh border district of Uttarakhand to Nepal and China. The CBI team that reached Delhi in October 2018 had also inquired about these incidents.
The forest department has come on alert mode due to the possibility of smuggling of wildlife organs from Pithoragarh border district of Uttarakhand to Nepal and China.
Four youths of Pithoragarh were caught with tiger skin and 15 kg of bones in Udham Singh Nagar on Saturday night. Due to this, a big connection of this border district bordering Nepal and China with wildlife smuggling is coming to the fore.
Pithoragarh border with Nepal:
Many such cases have come to the fore in the past when the skin of Guldar and the bile of the bear were either caught from Pithoragarh district or the names of the people there have come in it. The CBI team that reached Delhi in October 2018 had also inquired about these incidents. In March 2021, a workshop was also organized in Pithoragarh itself to prevent organized wildlife crime. In which officers of Forest Department, ITBP and SSB also participated.
The border of Pithoragarh is adjacent to Nepal and the journey to China begins from Nepal. In such a situation, the question is arising whether Pithoragarh is not the way for international wildlife organ smugglers. Uttarakhand has a different identity in the country regarding the diversity of flora and fauna.
There is also a good number of elephants, guldars and elephants in the plains. In the tiger census of 2018, it has been proved that there is presence of tiger in all the 13 districts of the state. At the same time, the movement of bears is also found in most of the places. Due to the availability of wildlife, the activism of poachers here has always been a challenge for the forest department.
On the other hand, the border from Banbasa of Champawat district in Terai to Dharchula-Munsiyari of Pithoragarh district in the mountains is adjacent to Nepal. In such a situation, the apprehension is getting stronger that taking advantage of the geographical conditions of the frontier, wildlife organ smugglers have made it an international route for smuggling.
Connection from Pithoragarh district is coming out like this:
On July 23, four youths from Pithoragarh were caught with tiger skin and 15 kg of bone.
In August 2022, two people were caught with five kilos of bear bile.
In August 2022, a youth was arrested with the skin of Guldar.
On March 2022, a young man was caught with four bear galls in Pithoragarh.
On March 2021, a young man was arrested with six skins of Guldar.
In October 2018, the CBI team checked the old records related to smuggling.
Special meeting in Pithoragarh to stop organized forest crime in March 2021.
Only skins recovered, more demand for bones:
In the joint action of the Forest Department and the Special Task Force (STF), more tiger and guldar skins are recovered. Whereas cases of bones are less common. According to forest officials, bones are used in China to make medicine for many other diseases apart from tonic medicine.
The skins are used for hobby wear and for decoration. That’s why smugglers cross the bones with utmost care. Agency’s alert from Corbett to Satpura This month, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Delhi had alerted Corbett, Rajaji National Park, Amangarh, Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, Valmiki Reserve, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Satpura etc. in Uttarakhand.
The central agency had received inputs that poachers could be active in the tiger reserve and its adjoining forest divisions. The arrest of four youths of Pithoragarh and big smuggler Arjun, a resident of Dehradun on Saturday proved this apprehension correct.
Mangi Gurjar arrested, STF engaged in inquiry:
On July 22, Krishna Kumar, Gajendra Singh, Sanjay Kumar and Harish Kumar, residents of Dharchula Pithoragarh, were arrested from Khatima with 11 feet long tiger skin and 15 kg of bone. On July 23, wildlife organ smuggler Arjun Singh, a resident of Nehru Colony, Dehradun, was also arrested by the STF.
After questioning him, due to the involvement of Mangi Gurjar, a smuggler from Haridwar, the Kumaon and Dehradun STF started searching for him while camping in Nazimabad area along with the forest department. So that tiger skin can be smuggled to other people.
Mangi Gurjar has also been arrested on Tuesday. At present, the team of STF and Forest Department is engaged in questioning him. After which the team can take major action on the inputs received.
