The Crime Branch (CB) of Odisha Police on Thursday took over the investigation into recent elephant poachings in Sambalpur district and constituted a seven-member special investigation team (SIT).
The team comprising three inspector-ranked officers will leave for Sambalpur where they will camp and begin investigation into the three incidents of poaching reported from Bamra and Sambalpur Forest Divisions during the last week of January. The SIT will be headed by RN Mohanty.
The CB has registered four cases in this connection. Three cases have been registered for as many poachings in Bamra and Sambalpur while the fourth case is in connection with the huge volumes of ammunition that were seized by the Sambalpur FD officials during the subsequent raids. Two persons were arrested during the crackdown.
Additional Director General Bijay Kumar Sharma said the Crime Branch is primarily looking to establish the inter-State linkages in the series of poachings which appear to be well organised and connected.
“We plan to investigate the cases in a comprehensive manner because the modus operandi is different from what has been reported in other cases of poaching in the State. The role of inter-State poachers will be a critical factor in the investigation,” Sharma said.
When the Sambalpur FD arrested Bhagwan Singh and Gupte Dharwa last month after the poachings rocked the State, it had seized a Jeep that had three step-ins and four fuel tanks to carry reserves in the jungle terrain. Besides, the vehicle had several pockets to carry essential articles.
The Jeep was customised to facilitate poachers to shoot from inside the vehicle which had cushioned points where firearms could be placed. The forest sleuths had also seized a huge volume of .303 mm, .22 mm bullets and 12 bore cartridges.
The mandate with CB will be to look into the surfacing of organised poaching in Sambalpur and the use of heavy fire-arms and ammunition in the operations. Most of the traditional poaching pockets in Odisha were earlier confined to Similipal, Kuldiha and Southern Odisha.
The fact that Bhagwan was from Jharkhand, the important challenge before CB is to trace the possibilities of financing from smuggling syndicates operating through the neighbouring State who are also sending in their men. Bhagwan, before he was released on bail by a local court, had confessed to the brutal way the elephants were slaughtered.
The CB has also sought information from Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, an independent probe agency under Ministry of Environment and Forests, on smugglers network in Jharkhand.
