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The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the response of the central government and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) on a plea that alleged organised poaching of tigers in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, and called for a CBI probe.
After considering brief submissions of the petitioner, advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal, a bench of Chief Justice of India B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran issued notices to the said authorities seeking their responses to the plea in four weeks. As per the plea, an SIT probe undertaken by the Maharashtra government has unearthed a wide network of professional poachers, smugglers, and hawala operators involved in the killing of tigers in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The illegal syndicate is also involved in trafficking the skins, bones and trophies of poached tigers across state boundaries and even beyond the country, the plea claimed. "The SIT report and related investigations reveal that tigers are increasingly being killed outside the boundaries of protected areas, in territorial forest divisions and corridors which lack effective surveillance and protection. These areas, identified as vital dispersal habitats by the Wildlife Institute of India, have become the prime targets of organised poaching gangs", the plea adds. During the hearing, counsel Bansal submitted that more than 30% of tigers in India are outside the protected zone. He further stated that the organised network of traffickers also includes gangs from indigenous groups such as the Van Gujar community. Bansal thus sought that a CBI probe be undertaken in this regard. (ANI)
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