The Gujarat Society For Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Vadodara, with the help of the Jalgaon Forest Department, has exposed the ongoing scam of selling wildlife at Jalgaon.
The teams conducted a joint raid and arrested two individuals, including a woman, who were involved in making brushes with mongoose hairs and selling sea fans, corals, porcupine thorns, body parts of monitor lizards, and others. They got arrested under the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act, and further investigation is on in this matter by the Jalgaon Forest Department.
Raj Bhavsar, from Gujarat SPCA, received information about some people in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, who were engaged in wildlife trafficking. Based on this information, he handed over the investigation to GSPCA member Rameshbhai who gave all the details after checking the facts.
On 12th November, information was shared with the local Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) and Range Forest Officer (RFO) of the Jalgaon forest range in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, the Forest Department personnel of Jalgaon had formed a team to carry out the raid with the help of Raj Bhavsar of Vadodara, who was in constant telephonic contact with them. During the swoop, the team found a woman named Vimalabai Pawar from the palace and seized items bought and stored for sale, including the parts of wild animals under schedule-1 and others.
The Jalgaon Forest department and GSPCA later raided the place of Mohsin Ishaq Khan and seized parrots from his possession. The DCF of the local forest department filed a case against both the accused under the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act, and further investigation is going on.
Written by:
Shristi Chatterjee
