Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh police in coordination with forest guards of the Jim Corbett National Park have arrested two key aides of notorious poacher of wild life animal skin Sansar Chand and four others who had been having gala time in the national park for the last few years.
In an exlcuive conversation with rediff. com, Srikant Chandola, chief wildlife warden of the park said, "With Sansar Chand and his brother Nihar Chand in jail, Gopi Chand and his brother Balhan Chand, residents of Samakhla village in Panipat district of Haryana, were carrying on poaching activities in our area. We had managed to get their photo identities through a video tape released by Tehelka.com."
"One and a half months ago their movements were noticed in the area around the Corbett National Park. Our spotters kept an eye on them and whom they met. I must say that this was the biggest catch in the recent years," Chandola said over phone.
Gopi and Balhan ran an international racket in supplying animal skins and elephant ivory tusks to China and Europe, particularly to Germany and United Kingdom, he said.
"They used to operate from Nagpur in Maharashtra and Samalakha in Haryana. They had cultivated a number of persons in the region who used to help them in carrying out their dubious designs", Chandola explained while giving details of the modus operandi of the operation.
As the number of tigers in the Corbett Park has risen to more then 200, some of them stray into populated villages nearby. The poachers would appear on the scene as saviour of people and would kill the lovely animal and thereby winning the confidence of the people.
