The
Report -
contd..
The
Khaga Seizure
Khaga,
in the Fatehpur District of Uttar Pradesh (UP), is
approximately 35 kilometres from Fatehpur city and is
located some 2 kilometres off the main road between
Allahabad and Kanpur.
Khaga
is primarily an agricultural market town with a
population of approximately 9,000 consisting mainly of
Hindus with a minority of Muslims. The nearest main
railway station is in Fatehpur, with connections to
Allahabad, Lucknow in UP and Satna in Madhya Pradesh.
The
Raid
In
late December 1999, following investigations into the
Ghaziabad seizure, the Ministry of Environment and
Forests and TRAFFIC-India received information linking
residents of Khaga to the illegal trade in wildlife
products. Subsequent surveillance of the suspected
premises in Khaga was co-ordinated by the Wildlife
Inspector, Northern Region and TRAFFIC, from the
09.01.2000.
This
surveillance led to a raid on the three premises by the
Fatehpur district police in the early hours of the
12.01.2000. The raid resulted in the seizure of 4 tiger
skins, 70 leopard skins, 221 blackbuck skins, 18,000
leopard claws, 132 tiger claws, 2 leopard teeth and 1
leopard penis.
The
products were professionally stored and packaged and had
been expertly processed, involving curing, numbering and
marking of skins. One of the skins, numbered '62',
displayed an ink marking similar to those present on
some of the skins seized at Ghaziabad. The claws were in
sealed plastic packets of 500 pieces.
The
police and raid co-ordinators had no idea that the
seizure would be so large prior to the raid. There were
no forensic procedures carried out on the premises
immediately after the raid.
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Some of the skins were marked and numbered.
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The
Suspects
Five
suspects were arrested, namely Mr Haji Ramzan Seith, Mr
Azizullah (owner of one of the properties involved), Mr
Hamed Ali (of Manindra Gur, Koriyo District, MP), Mr
Wahid and Mrs Zaitoon Nisa, wife of Mr Shabbir Hasan
Qureshi (owner of one of the properties raided). There
appears to be some confusion between the Khaga police
records and the Fatehpur police records regarding the
exact names of some of those arrested.
Three
suspects were not apprehended during the raid, namely Mr
Manzur Hasan Qureshi, Mr Shabbir Hasan Qureshi (sons of
Haji Ramzan Seith) and Mr Saravraj, all residents of
Delhi. Mr Shabbir Hasan Qureshi was not caught in the
raid despite reports that he was present at his property
the previous day.
Conflict
And Confusion
The
police claim that the raid was delayed due to the
religious sensitivities associated with carrying out a
raid during the ongoing Ramadan festival. The Wildlife
Inspector who co-ordinated the raid denies this. He
claims that the raid was executed when his informant
confirmed the presence of at least 6 cat skins on the
premises. Also, there are conflicting reports from the
Khaga Police and the Wildlife Inspector as to which of
the premises were used to cure the skins.
Despite
Uttar Pradesh Forest Department claims, they were not
involved in the planning, co-ordination or execution of
the raids and were only involved several hours after the
raid. Representatives of the UP Forest Department were
initially denied access to the skins. Despite this, they
carried out a press conference on the day of the
seizure. The press conference was criticised by the
police and other individuals because the publicity may
have jeopardised the efficacy of subsequent
investigations. This appears to have caused a
significant degree of conflict between the Fatehpur
District Police and the UP Forest Department.
The
Investigation
Some
hours after the raid the police accompanied by TRAFFIC
officers raided a property in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.
No wildlife products were recovered but tools similar to
those used to cure the skins at the Khaga premises
(wooden planks, plastic tubs) were found. No forensic
procedures were carried out on these items. Another raid
on a Delhi property owned by one of the accused on the
13.01.2000 provided no evidence of illegal wildlife
trade. No one interviewed by the EIA knew whether or not
forensic procedures had been carried out at any of the
raided premises since the 12.01.2000.
Police
interrogation of the arrested led to a further raid on
premises belonging to Mr Attiqullah in Eatgaon, a
village neighbouring Khaga on the 15.01.2000. 150 kgs of
leopard and tiger bones were seized and Mr Attiqullah
was arrested.
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Mr
Attiqullah (centre) with the Khaga police and
150 kgs of leopard and tiger bone.
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The
arrested were not remanded in custody but were
immediately put in prison, which presented problems for
the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Fatehpur District
to carry out satisfactory questioning of the arrested.
Bail appeals of 4 of those arrested have not been
successful, despite them having hired a senior advocate
from the High Court of Delhi. Mrs Jetton Nisha was
granted bail for the wildlife offence but remains in
custody under the 'Gangster Act'.
Various
agencies claim to have carried out investigations
following the seizure including the Fatehpur District
police, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Forest Department,
TRAFFIC and according to the Secretary to the Chief
Minister of UP, the UP Criminal Investigation Department
(CID). The DFO of Fatehpur, the Fatehpur District police
and TRAFFIC all claimed to have information regarding
further connections to the illegal wildlife trade in
villages adjacent to Khaga. Indeed, a further 4 leopard
skins were seized by the Fatehpur District police in a
field close to Khaga in early February 2000.
According
to the police and Forest Department the skins may have
originated from Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal,
Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, arriving at Khaga via
Allahabad. The skins are believed to have been sent on
from Khaga to Delhi where they may be exported by air or
transported by road to Siliguri in West Bengal. This
study was unable to determine any details of
investigations in Delhi, Allahabad or Siliguri.
However,
during the investigations following the raid there
appears to have been very little co-ordination between
the agencies and NGO's involved. None of the
interviewees could confirm that forensic procedures had
been carried out on any of the seized evidence or on the
premises raided in Delhi and Allahabad to detect
presence of leopard/tiger bone and fur. No one
interviewed in this study could confirm any
international trade connections although it was strongly
suspected that these skins were bound for Bangladesh,
Nepal or China and eventually are destined for South
East Asia or the Middle East.
Finally,
after 4 weeks of non-cooperative investigations, the
Government of India decided that the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) should handle the investigation of
this case.
EIA
Observations
These
seizures have revealed the presence of a highly
organised, illegal trade in animal products in India,
from field-level poachers using poison, to expert
skinners taking their time to ensure a high quality
product, through to an efficient curing and packaging
operation in Khaga and organised couriers in Allahabad,
Uttar Pradesh (UP), to the international trade network
in Delhi and Siliguri in West Bengal.
This
trade is on a scale and level of organisation that was
not previously suspected by government officials or
NGOs.
EIA
recalls earlier seizures made by the Divisional Forest
Officer and Superintendent of Police of Satna, Madhya
Pradesh where two similar named brothers were involved
in the leopard skin trade. The EIA encouraged the
Fatehpur authorities to contact the Satna authorities
for further details.
EIA
recognises the significant efforts of the relevant
authorities in making these historic seizures. Their
work has created an important opportunity, which should
allow India's law enforcement authorities to rigorously
investigate this illegal trade and facilitate its
eventual elimination.
However,
the EIA is extremely concerned that the apparent
conflict and lack of co-operation between Fatehpur
police and the UP Forest Department may have affected
the efficacy of the subsequent investigations, given
that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) became
responsible for the investigation of the case 4 weeks
after the initial seizure.
EIA
recalls that NGOs in India have for some time been
calling for a multi-agency task force to combat the
wildlife trade. The need for a more sophisticated
approach to wildlife crime was also recommended in the
1999 CITES tiger technical mission report 1and publicly
reiterated by the CITES tiger political mission during
their visit to India in January 2000.
EIA
Recommendations
It
is essential that swift convictions and firm penalties
be secured against the arrested individuals in order to
set a precedent and deterrent.
The
Government of India and the judiciary must accord
wildlife crime the same priority as the illegal trade in
arms and narcotics since the same individuals are likely
to be trading in wildlife products.
In
light of the significance of the Khaga seizure, the EIA
calls upon:
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The
Government of India to establish a specially trained
and equipped federal 'National Wildlife Crime Unit',
combining the skills of the Forest Department and
the police, whose specific purpose is to
investigate, infiltrate and eliminate the illegal
wildlife trade. This concept has been endorsed by Mr
P K Sen, Director of Project Tiger, Mr S C Sharma
the Additional Inspector General (Wildlife) of the
Ministry of Environment and Forests and by the CITES
tiger political mission during their visit to India
in January 2000.
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The
Government of India to establish specialised
enforcement units at state level within the Forest
Department, as recommended by the CITES tiger
technical mission report (Reference: 1 CITES 1999,
Doc. SC 42.10.4 'Issues relating to species, Tiger
Technical Missions'). These units must be
specifically trained to co-ordinate proactive
investigation of wildlife crime incidents and have
the necessary skills and technology at their
disposal.
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The
international community, either through bi-lateral
relations or through CITES, to provide essential
technical and financial support to the
implementation of specialised enforcement units and
the 'National Wildlife Crime Unit' in line with the
recommendations of the CITES tiger technical
mission.
The
EIA would like to thank everyone who contributed to this
study, especially the Police and the Forest Department
at Fatehpur for supplying some of the photographs used
in this report. This report was written by Peter
Richardson and Debbie Banks (consultant to EIA),
09.03.2000.
UK
Peter
Richardson, Tiger Campaigner
69-85 Old Street
London, EC1V 9HX
Tel (44) 207 490 7040
Fax (44) 207 490 0436
e-mail: info@eia-international.org
US
Allan
Thornton, Chairman
PO Box 53343
Washington DC 20007
Tel: (1) 202 452 8661
Fax: (1) 202 452 8663
e-mail: eiaus@igc.apc.org
Report
1 | Report 2 | Interviews |
