Inter-State Wildlife Trade Racket Busted In Assam, Police Arrest Mother-Son Duo 

Assam News: The accused were allegedly part of an inter-state wildlife smuggling racket and were involved in the poaching of a tiger at Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli.

The Assam police on Wednesday arrested two persons from Assam’s West Karbi Anglong district and Meghalaya's Shillong for being allegedly involved in the wildlife trade. The suspected wildlife smugglers have been identified as Rindik Teringpi and her son Bidasingh Senar, both from the district’s Gita Langkok village under the Baithalangshu police station.

“While Teringpi was arrested from her home in West Karbi Anglong district, Senar was arrested from Shillong. Approximately 7.60 grams of pangolin scales were recovered from the possession of Teringpi. The duo was part of an inter-state wildlife smuggling racket and is related to a case of wildlife trafficking in which four accused were arrested earlier," additional superintendent of police, special task force of Assam, Kalyan Pathak, told ABP Live. Interrogation of the accused is on and they will be taken to the court.

On June 29 this year, personnel from the Azara police station in the state’s Kamrup district apprehended four alleged wildlife traffickers along with tiger bones and skin. The accused were allegedly part of an inter-state wildlife smuggling racket and were involved in the poaching of a tiger at Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli.

During preliminary investigation, the accused revealed that they were transporting the tiger's body parts to Meghalaya to be delivered to another location. The accused were later handed over to the state forest department and the case was transferred to the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) on August 8.

The accused were booked under sections 9/39/40/48A/49B/51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Investigation revealed the involvement of a transnational border illegal wildlife contraband group.

India is not only a source of smuggled animal body parts, but also a transit point, say wildlife activists. A wildlife activist, with whom ABP Live, spoke to, said: "Various animal body parts like tiger skin and bones, rhino horns, elephant tusks, among others, have a clandestine market and are often smuggled through the international borders of the Northeastern states of Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, and Tripura."

"The porous international borders of these states make the smuggling of contraband items easier. Contraband items are often smuggled to and from China, Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries," the activist said. Moreover, legal loopholes or lack of implementation of laws are resulting in the growing menace of poaching and smuggling of animal parts, said the activist. Wildlife trafficking has resulted in a negative impact on the world’s environment and biodiversity.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has stated that wildlife trafficking is the fourth largest form of transnational organised crime after the smuggling of narcotic drugs and human trafficking. Though being a part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora), India is presently in the top 10 list of wildlife trafficking by air. The CITES is an agreement between governments of nations which ensures that international trade of animal body parts does not threaten any animal species.

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