Nagpur: Exactly 60 days after the country’s biggest tiger poaching syndicate with international links was exposed on January 24, the Central Chanda Forest officials on Tuesday filed a chargesheet before the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Rajura.
The investigation over the past two months has resulted in a 1,000-page document. As per legal requirements, a charge sheet must be filed within 60 days; failing to do so entitles the accused to de- fault bail. The chargesheet names 29 accused in the international syndicate, but only 13, including three from the northeast, have been arrested. All are currently in magisterial custody (MCR).
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Friday 28 March 2025
Based on digital financial transactions worth 18 crore detected during the interrogation of key accused Sonu Bawariya, Ajit Chiyalal Pardhi, and other traders from the northeast, it is estimated that separate gangs poached 100 tigers across the country over last five years in tiger states including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh.
Over the past two months, a multi-agency probe, led by Special Investigation Teams (SITs) at local, state, and national levels, meticulously uncovered the vast criminal network linked to the poaching and illegal trade. Apart from Maharashtra Forest Department’s territorial wing, officials from Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF), social forestry department, and Melghat Cyber Cell were actively involved. The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in New Delhi provided crucial support, while Madhya Pradesh Tiger Task Force, forest department of Meghalaya, and Chandrapur police department also collaborated.
The chargesheet names 29 primary accused, of whom 13 have been arrested and are currently in magisterial custody. The investigation has revealed that the poaching operation was part of a sophisticated and organised crime syndicate operating at national and international level, with tiger parts sourced from different regions in India and smuggled to China via the north-eastern corridor. Efforts are on to track and apprehend the absconding suspects to further dismantle the network.
Notably, while evidences of poaching of several tigers in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have been gathered, the mammoth financial trail amounting to over Rs7.5 crore unearthed by the investigators have led them to believe that over 100 tigers have been poached across the country over last five years by the organised poachers linked to the syndicate. Despite the extensive probe, a crucial gap remains — investigating agencies had sought the assistance of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to track the financial trail of the wildlife trade. However, despite sending a formal request, the ED is yet to give its consent to join the probe, raising concerns over the delay in unearthing the money laundering aspect of the operation.
