ES Reporter 

ANINI, Feb 27: A poacher has been arrested with tiger skin, body parts and weapons during a joint operation led by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), SRO, Guwahati under Eastern Region Headquarters, Kolkata, Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department and Assam Forest Department in the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary, Anini on February 24 last.
A team of officers and Forest personnel led by  Jawaharlal Baro, Inspector, WCCB,  arrested one Jakir Husain of  Nagaon, Assam. The main accused of the case, a  local from Anini managed to escape taking advantage of the thick jungles. However, the team recovered few documents of the absconding culprit. The team has recovered Royal Bengal Tiger skin- 01 no. ( approx size-2.15 Mtrs x 1.45 mtrs), Tiger canine - 04 pieces, Skull with teeth- 01 no. Bones- 46 pieces and a vehicle bearing Assam registration number.
During the investigation, it was revealed through a photograph from the mobile phone of the accused that the tiger was actually poached from the Malinye area of the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary, Anini with the support of local poachers.     
Further, the PCCF, Arunachal Pradesh has constituted a High-Level Committee under the Chairmanship of the Field Director, Namdapha Tiger Reserve for further inquiry into the issue in Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary and to provide technical assistance to the investigation team. Directions have been also issued to the local authorities to be on high alert to nab the offenders and prevent such poaching incidents in Anini and other parts of the State as well.
There has been indirect information from various sources about the incidences of Tiger Poaching in the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary. However, as the Project Tiger scheme has not been implemented for Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary, the department doesn't have dedicated staff for the protection of tigers. Around 4 to 5 frontline staff are present in the entire sanctuary and they are guarding a vast area of 4149 sq.km under adverse high altitude terrain conditions.
As per a preliminary rapid survey carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in 2013-14 there are at least  11 tigers in an area of around 336 km out of the total area of 4149 sq.km of the Sanctuary, stated  the Chief Wildlife Warden in a press statement. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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