Nagpur: With the gangs of organized tiger poachers belonging to Baheliya community from Katni in Madhya Pradesh becoming active in Maharashtra again, is the forest department waiting for its tigers to vanish?
Information from reliable sources in MP forest department said that dreaded tiger poachers including Nirafal, Luchi and Bharo and their operatives have become active again in Vidarbha region and Western Maharashtra.
Nirafal, arrested from Pune in July 2013, was convicted in a tiger poaching case and was released after undergoing his jail term in 2016. Nirafal gang was involved in poaching of 4 tigers, 2 leopards, 1 sloth bear and 1 barking deer in Masondi in Ghatang range in Melghat in May 2013.
The presence of Baheliyas in the state can also be ascertained from seizure of a leopard skin by Thane police on April 15. Both the arrested accused — Kismatlal Marabi and Korcha Marabi — are Baheliyas and hail from Kudo village in Katni.
Sources said these poachers were tracked by MP forest officials here on a tip off given by their informer. MP officials were on a hunt of these poachers in Katni in some other wildlife crime cases.
“Four months ago, during a raid in Katni, we tracked some gangs in Maharashtra and informed CBI officials, handling poaching cases in Maharashtra, informing about movement of these elements in western parts of the state,” said MP officials.
Sources said when the information was cross verified, it turned out to be that of Nirafal. Notorious poachers Luchi and Bharo, wanted in Melghat tiger poaching cases, were also said to be with him.
On November 2, 2017, Nirafal was in Nagpur in Gandhibagh and Ghat Road near Cotton Market. Later, the gang moved to Chandrapur in November end.
These gang members are shuffling between Nagpur, Chandrapur and Western Maharashtra. Their phones are switched off for days together before becoming active again.
Nitin Desai, Central India director of Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), says, “In this background, a general alert needs to be sounded in the state, especially in Vidarbha. There should be a mechanism about every guard having pictures of the culprits.”
“This indicates that poachers have changed their strategy by switching off the phones so that they are not tracked. You have to read between the lines why Nirafal must have been to Chandrapur, which is a tiger hub,” says Jose Louise, chief of the crime control division of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
Louise said Luchi and Bharo are still active. Though there may not be demand for skins but certainly tiger bones are in demand for wine. “These can be collected even from locals involved in removing the body parts of dead tigers,” he added.
In mid-December 2017, the suspect was in Katol in night. After 15 days he moved to Pune. The Katlabodi tigress area is close to Katol and foresters need to be alert. Earlier, arrested tiger trader Sarju Bagdi was also traced near Katol.
Nirafal, Luchi and Bharo and others are very much in Maharashtra but forest department is in deep slumber. The fugitives’ presence coincides with iconic tiger Jai’s son Jaichand missing from January 18, 2018 from Umred-Karhandla Paoni range.
“If this is true then it is high time forest officials should find out where is Jaichand. It is really a pity that despite all tiger reserves in state having cyber cells, they have failed to check these gangs,” said nature lover Amrut Naik.
Principal secretary (forest) Vikas Kharge was not available for comments. He also did not respond to SMS sent to him.
