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On Friday night, the STF team arrested four members of an interstate wildlife smuggling gang in Varanasi. 245 banned parrots and 12 peacocks, the national bird, were recovered from the smugglers.
UP STF Arrests 4 Smugglers
Varanasi: The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has achieved a major success against illegal wildlife smuggling.
On Friday night, the STF team arrested four members of an interstate wildlife smuggling gang in Varanasi. 245 banned parrots and 12 peacocks, the national bird, were recovered from the smugglers.
An Innova vehicle, mobile phones, cages, and cash were also seized along with the seized birds.
The smugglers were heading to West Bengal via the Varanasi-Prayagraj route.
The STF had been receiving information for a long time that a wildlife smuggling network was active between West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
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In this connection, on the night of November 7th, at around 9:55 pm, the STF received information from an informant that banned birds brought from Prayagraj and Kaushambi were being transported in an Innova car (number UP70FR0489) via Varanasi to Asansol (West Bengal).
245 parrots and 12 peacocks found in the vehicle
Acting on the information, the STF team, led by Inspector Pramod Kumar Verma, along with a joint team from the Forest Department (Varanasi) and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (Gorakhpur), laid a siege at Rakhuna intersection (Raja Talab police station).
Upon investigation, 245 parrots and 12 peacocks were found in the vehicle, which the accused were trying to smuggle.
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The arrested accused were identified as:
Mohammad Wasim alias Arman, resident of Asansol, Bardhaman (West Bengal)
Mohammad Ayub, resident of Bardhaman (West Bengal)
Nitesh Diwakar, resident of Kasenda police station, Pipri district, Kaushambi
Aman Kumar, resident of Govindpur Tewara police station, Puramufti district, Prayagraj
Items recovered:
The smuggled birds were sold in West Bengal
During interrogation, the main accused, Wasim alias Arman, revealed that he purchased these birds from Pankaj, a resident of Kaushambi. He revealed that peacocks were purchased for Rs 500 and parrots for Rs 100 to Rs 200, which were then sold to small traders in Asansol or Kolkata for Rs 400 to Rs 500 per parrot and Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per peacock. This gang has engaged in this type of smuggling several times. Ayub is said to be their main accomplice in this illegal activity.
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Action under the Wildlife Protection Act
The STF has filed a case against the arrested accused under sections 2, 9, 11, 39, 48B, 49B, 50, 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972) and section 57 of the Indian Forest Act (1927). The STF stated that this gang operated interstate and supplied protected animals from eastern Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Assam.
STF officials said this action is a major success against illegal wildlife trafficking and the campaign will continue to root out such networks. All the recovered birds have been sent to a safe location under the supervision of the Forest Department.
