The Assam forest department is being lauded for its efforts in rescuing exotic wildlife species recently.
Assam’s Cachar Forest Division had intercepted a vehicle at Lailapur on July 28 and rescued exotic wildlife that included a kangaroo, six macaw parrots, three tortoises, and two monkeys. The animals were brought to Guwahati Zoo for safe-keeping and to give care. But the issue that has raised eyebrows is how did a Kangaroo, an animal that is indigenous to Australia mainly, land in Assam?
Two persons namely Narsimha Reddy and Navnath Tukaram Daigude have been detained subsequent to the interception. In the course of the interrogation, they revealed to the forest personnel that the consignment was headed to Guwahati.
Highly placed sources in the forest department, talking to G Plus, revealed that after the seizure, many agencies have been contacting the Assam Forest Department; the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), West Bengal, is one of them. The source revealed that the arrested accused had been also arrested in 2018 by DRI in Kolkata with 40 exotic wildlife species which were meant to be smuggled to Pune and other parts of Maharashtra.
The bust has proven that India is a transit point cum destination of international wildlife smuggling rackets and the Myanmar route is the most significant one.
Talking about the recent exotic wildlife rescue in Assam with a Kangaroo being among the rescued animals, a senior forest official, talking to G Plus under the condition of anonymity, said that the investigation is ongoing but according to initial scrutiny it seems extremely likely or rather a fact that the animals had been brought from Thailand.
“According to the stamps and seals on the cartons in which the animals were caged, it was found that the consignment was coming from Thailand via Myanmar and Mizoram. As soon as it reached Assam (Lailapur Forest Sub Beat) the forest department seized the truck,” the officer said. He said that kangaroos are indigenous to Australia and even South America but what the initial investigation reveals is that there are many farms in Thailand where these animals are bred. From Thailand, the animals were brought to Myanmar and from Myanmar, it came to Cachar via Mizoram. The consignment was suspected to be going to Hyderabad that has many pet shops to which it was supposed to be delivered.
The officer said that there are many wealthy people in India who purchase exotic species for rearing or even for consumption.
The arrested accused people are hardcore international wildlife smugglers and it would be difficult to extract much information from them but the security agencies are working on exposing the entire nexus.