Maharashtra: WCCB to set up group to study wildlife crime involving stars

  • | Thursday | 17th January, 2019

Mali was among those who had cracked the sensational Dhakna tiger poaching case in 2013 at Amravati using cyber-forensics. Jolted into action after international golfer Jyoti Randhawa was arrested on charges of poaching inside the Dudhwa tiger reserve, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has set up a working group of officials to conduct a detailed study of wildlife crime cases involving celebrities. Based on the analysis of the study, the WCCB will issue an advisory. It will conduct a detailed study of all cases involving sportspersons and celebrities who have been arrested or suspected of involvement in poaching and illegal trade of wildlife products. The group will suggest measures to prevent the hunting of wild animals as a sport or hobby.

Jolted into action after international golfer Jyoti Randhawa was arrested on charges of poaching inside the Dudhwa tiger reserve, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has set up a working group of officials to conduct a detailed study of wildlife crime cases involving celebrities. The group will suggest measures to prevent the hunting of wild animals as a sport or hobby. It will also meet representatives of sports bodies like the National Rifle Association to sensitise them and ensure remedial measures are taken. The working group will have Tilottama Verma, additional director, WCCB as the chairperson, and consist of officials with experience of investigating such crimes, including Vishal Mali, divisional forest officer (DFO), at the Melghat tiger reserve in Maharashtra. It will conduct a detailed study of all cases involving sportspersons and celebrities who have been arrested or suspected of involvement in poaching and illegal trade of wildlife products. Based on the analysis of the study, the WCCB will issue an advisory. Mali was among those who had cracked the sensational Dhakna tiger poaching case in 2013 at Amravati using cyber-forensics. Actor Salman Khan is among the celebrities named in poaching cases. Khan had been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for killing blackbucks in Rajasthan in October 1998 during the shooting of a Bollywood movie. In December 2018, Randhawa was caught by the Uttar Pradesh forest department along with former Indian Navy officer and skydiver Mahesh Birajdar, who had been court-martialled for embezzlement of funds during the 2008 World Parachuting Championship in Paris. “These celebrities are seen as role models and hence, their involvement in these crimes is seen as a validation of such actions,” explained a forest department official. Another official noted that people living on the fringes of forested areas tended to look at hunting as a sport and also took to it for bushmeat. The committee will also include Ramesh Kumar Pandey, field director, Dudhwa, RS Thakur, deputy director, WCCB, HV Girisha, conservator of forests (wildlife crime), Uttar Pradesh, Ritesh Sarothiya, DCF, STPF, Madhya Pradesh, RS Sharath, range officer, Andaman and Nicobar island and have Pradeep Kumar, inspector, WCCB as the member secretary.

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