The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) have disrupted an interstate wildlife smuggling network in an effort to combat illicit wildlife trafficking. As a result, 53 protected animals and birds were saved, and six suspects from Mumbai and Kolkata were taken into custody. Fifteen slow lorises, two binturongs, twenty-eight star tortoises, six Egyptian vultures, and two shikra birds were saved as a result of the cooperative effort, which was supported by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB). The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which offers the highest degree of legal protection in India, lists all of these species in Schedule I.
The DRI’s Mumbai section obtained particular intelligence regarding an interstate gang reportedly involved in sourcing and trafficking protected wildlife species from various regions of the nation, which prompted the CBI to initiate the operation.
Coordinated searches were carried out at many places in West Bengal and Maharashtra in response to the inputs. Three suspects were detained in Mumbai and three more in Kolkata after the CBI filed two FIRs on July 7 and 8.
Noman Khan, Mohd. Faruq, and Insha Shakil from Mumbai, as well as Saikat Biswas, Mithun Mondal (also known as Himanshu Mandal), and Arjun Mondal from Kolkata, have been named as the arrested suspects.
According to officials, the birds and animals that were saved were reportedly purchased for illicit commerce from different regions of India. The rescued animals were given to the forest departments of West Bengal and Maharashtra for safekeeping and rehabilitation once the first legal procedures were finished.
Along with accusations of criminal conspiracy under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, the cases have been recorded under pertinent portions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
The coordinated operation, according to the CBI, demonstrates how closely central enforcement agencies work together to dismantle organized wildlife trafficking networks. The racket is being investigated further.
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