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Kerala receives information from Bihar confirming forgery in possession certificates of two elephants
In a breakthrough in its probe into an inter-State elephant smuggling racket, the Kerala Forest Department has acquired data from Bihar that confirms suspicion of forgery in possession certificates of two animals llegedly smuggled by an absconding Kollam native.
While the event has supplied an impetus to the investigation, forest officers imagine it’s only the tip of the iceberg, indicating the opportunity of a bigger community of criminals behind the nefarious operation.
The department launched an investigation into the suspected commerce and unlawful switch of 200 elephants from varied States a month in the past following a “revelation” made by Kollam native V. Shaji on YouTube. The probe is led by the Conservator of Forests (Social Forestry), Kollam.
While Shaji, the primary accused in seven circumstances that had been subsequently registered, and 4 others are absconding, forest officers arrested his good friend and alleged confederate Sanal Kumar of Puthenkulam in Kollam. Two elephants had been additionally seized from Kumar’s possession.
Chief Wildlife Warden Surendrakumar took up the matter along with his counterparts in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam to establish the authenticity of the possession certificates of captive elephants that had been within the possession of the accused.
After verifying the possession certificates of two of Shaji’s elephants — Prasad and Modi — Prabhat Kumar Gupta, Chief Wildlife Warden in Bihar, formally communicated that the paperwork didn’t match with official information.
The precise possession certificates of one of many elephants had apparently been issued to a Patna native. Besides, the unique certificates contained microchip numbers that differed with these discovered within the paperwork furnished by the accused. The elephants are believed to have been delivered to Kerala in 2015.
Concluding that the certificates had been pretend, the Bihar forest authorities urged their Kerala counterparts to provoke motion, official sources stated.
While the response from the opposite States is predicted, the Kerala Forest Department is ready to submit two complaints to the police pertaining to the alleged forgery. Prior to the continuing investigation, the department had registered not less than 5 circumstances in opposition to Shaji, an official stated.
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