Wildlife Crime Control Bureau keen to rope in ED to probe poaching cases

The Times of India , Friday, February 20, 2015
Correspondent : Shishir Arya
NAGPUR: The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has firmed up plans to coordinate with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) while dealing with poaching cases. A meeting of WCCB's central region was held recently at Raipur, Chhattisgarh, where representatives of ED also took part. The agency mooted that it can take up investigation to track down the money-trial in poaching cases.

It is believed that there is an organized syndicate operating in hunting of wild animals and the poachers or couriers arrested are just a small part of the entire chain. ED, which generally takes up cases related to economic offences, can use its expertise to track down the illicit money generated through such activities, said a senior officer of the agency during the meeting.

Though WCCB's central region, which organized the Raipur meet, covers neighbouring Chhattisgarh but not Maharashtra, the same ED office covers both the states. So, ED plans to take up investigation of poaching cases registered in Maharashtra too.

The central region of WCCB covers Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Jharkhand, and Maharashtra comes under the western region. WCCB has already started giving news alerts covering cases all across the country to the ED after this meet, said a source.

Normally, ED is focuses on economic related offences, though tracking down the money flow in wildlife crimes is also a part of its mandate, which it can now take up actively, the source said.

The persons hired to hunt the animal or courier the skin or other parts are paid small amounts. There is a larger syndicate operating behind the scenes with huge sums changing hands, which needs to be tracked down. It is believed that a large portion of the animal parts are smuggled to China. Once the financial channel is squeezed it can lead to a severe blow to poaching activities. Unless there is a conduit for big ticket money, poaching will not be a lucrative business, said a source present during the meeting.

The meeting also had representatives from the coast guard and customs. It is suspected that body parts or skin are generally smuggled through the sea route. Certain smaller items can also be smuggled by air. So far, China is considered the biggest market for such organs.

The WCCB central region meet also dealt with the issue of poaching of elephants, which are found in large numbers in Orissa, apart from the trade in Ridley turtles, said a source.

In A Nutshell

Poaching is controlled by organized syndicates

China is supposed to be the biggest market for animal parts like tusks or tiger organs

ED, which normally handles money-laundering cases, can probe the monetary aspect of poaching too

WCCB meet had officials from Coast Guard and Customs apart from ED

Squeezing money channel can help in hitting poachers, feel sleuths

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Wildlife-Crime-Control-Bureau-keen-to-rope-in-ED-to-probe-poaching-cases/articleshow/46305628.cms?
 


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