Concern over low conviction for wildlife crimes

KENDRAPARA: The conviction of the Bollywood star Salman Khan in the black buck poaching case in Rajasthan has brought joy to conservationists but low conviction rate for wildlife crimes in Bhitarkanika and its nearby areas continues to remain a cause of concern.“Each year, we arrest 10 to 20 poachers on the charges of killing spotted deer in Bhitarkanika. Poachers trap the hapless animals by spreading traps in the mangrove forest and its nearby areas. Some even use trained dogs to kill the deer,” said Forest Range Officer of Bhitarkanika Subrat Patra.

Two years back, the Forest officials had counted 3,233 spotted deer. However, the number dipped to 3184 during the three-day long census in November last year, Patra said.Despite the high incidence of poaching of spotted deer, the conviction rate of arrested poachers is abysmally low due to the slipshod attitude of Forest officials in the cases. Last year, two poachers were convicted for killing birds in Bhitarkanka. However, the conviction rate is zero in cases of deer and crocodile poaching, said Hemant Rout, an environmentalist and president of Marine Turtles and Mangrove Conservation Society (MTMCS), Kendrapara.   

Around 450 poachers were arrested in the last two decades on charges of killing around 200   spotted deer, birds and crocodiles. Special counsel of the Forest department Sushree Kumari Nayak said Dhani Das, a notorious poacher of Iswarapur village within the park area, was arrested in 1996 on charges of killing two spotted deer. However, he was acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence  against him. Similarly, Ananda Mallick, a poacher of Dangamala, was acquitted by court last year though he was booked in 1996 for killing a spotted deer. In 1997, Forest officials with help of police had arrested Sk Salim of Talachua village for killing a salt-water crocodile. But he too was acquitted due to lack of evidence, Nayak said. 

Around 68 poaching cases are pending in court. The delay in trial is the main reason behind acquittal of many poachers, Nayak said.“Zero conviction rate is due to reasons such as delay in hearing of the cases, tampering of evidence, lack of forensic tests, non- cooperation of eyewitnesses and other factors. Forest officials never take help of scientists of the Forensic department while collecting fingerprints of poachers on the carcasses, arms, weapons and other seized items. Besides, the poached animal’s DNA is also not tested,” informed a retired senior Forest official on the consitions of anonymity.The Government should establish fast-track courts to try poaching cases, he added.