Special Investigation Team (SIT) of CBI headed by DIG BK Sharma has been trailing Sansar Chand's poaching syndicate after he was found to be involved in killing the tigers of Sariska Tiger Reserve.

The CBI claimed to have recovered from Akash, the son of 'Veerappan of North India', a slim diary with insights into his father's extensive poaching network across the country and abroad besides giving details of trading in wildlife trophies worth Rs 1.38 crore.

"The startling discovery in the form of a notebook/diary allegedly belonging to accused Akash contains details of the trading done in 654 leopards, 40 tigers and 32 otters, etc, valued at Rs 1.38 crore," the agency said. In a supplementary charge-sheet filed on May 29 against the kingpin's right-hand man Satyabhan, CBI has highlighted the diary as prime evidence to nail all the accused under the stringent MCOCA.

"The transactions in the diary not only reflect the economy involved in the trade but also indicate the extent to which the unabated offence against wildlife of the country is being committed by the organised crime syndicate controlled by Sansar Chand," the agency said in the charge-sheet. In the diary, a code letter(s) or word determines each animal. 'C' stands for cheetahs, 'T' for tigers, 'A' (AK or AG) denotes otters and the word 'panja' synonyms tiger claws.

The diary gives accounts of transactions dating back to the year 1974, CBI said, adding that it had first got wind of the diary from the confessional statement of Babu, an agent of Sansar Chand and accused under MCOCA. The CBI had in January this year charge-sheeted Sansar Chand and his four associates under MCOCA, an act which has been used for the first time in wildlife cases.

There are already six cases pending in Delhi against Sansar Chand, prominent among which deals with the seizure of 41 leopard skins and other wildlife articles from the smuggler in the capital. About 57 other cases have been registered under the Wildlife Act against him and his family members in Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Chand's arrest on June 30 was the result of countrywide drives against crime syndicates involved in the wildlife sanctuaries.

Sansar Chand belongs to a tribe of traditional wildlife traders of Western India called "Giharas". After Veerappan, he is considered to be the most dangerous smuggler. Though not hunters themselves, Giharas are close to other traditional hunter tribes, responsible for much of the poaching that feeds the illegal market. Sansar Chand was first arrested in 1974 at the age of 18 on the charges of selling tiger skins but the Supreme Court reduced his sentence.

A resident of Sadar Bazar in north Delhi, Sansar Chand then went on to become the biggest skin smuggler of India. His Rani and son Akash too are involved in the smuggling of the skins to the protected animals. His niece Ritu, brother Narain and nephew Pritam are also in this illegal trade. Rani and Pritam are currently lodged in Jaipur jail after they were found involved in the family trade.