BHUBANESWAR: The Crime Branch of Odisha Police has taken over investigation of pangolin scale smuggling by trafficker Shamsuddin Khan. Following a request from Chief Wildlife Warden Sandeep Tripathi to Director General of Police Dr RP Sharma, the Crime Branch took over probe of the case which has national and may even have international links.
Khan, who has been into smuggling of wildlife articles for more than 20 years, was arrested by a team of officials of Mahanadi Wildlife Division on June 18. Wanted by Special Task Force of Madhya Pradesh Forest Department in connection with pangolin scale smuggling in 2014, Khan has been eluding arrest for a long time.
In Odisha, his record of wildlife crime goes back to 1996 when 20 leopard skins were seized from his possession at Athagarh. The case is sub judice.
Sources said the Crime Branch has moved the Dasapalla Court seeking Khan’s custody. The custody application will be heard on Monday.
The Mahanadi Wildlife Division DFO Anshu Pragyan Das registered an FIR with CB under Sections 9, 17, 39 (b) and (c), 44, 49 (B of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
During interrogation, the Mahanadi Wildlife Division found a mobile phone in which references to more than a dozen bank transactions were found. Since the Crime Branch is equipped with investigating case of such nature, the Wildlife Wing requested the agency to step into it.
Currently, Khan is in jail custody. There are several cases filed against him in Madhya Pradesh and a team from the MP Forest Department is also camping in Nayagarh to seek his custody.
Pangolin, a Schedule I animal, is one of the most trafficked animals in the world. In MP, the Forest Department had busted a gang and arrested several persons in connection with a network whose tentacle spread across India. Khan’s name too cropped up during the probe as he had supplied pangolin scale.
