CHENNAI: A police constable attached to the Tamil Nadu special police battalion has been dismissed from service for his possible role as the lynchpin in a multicrore international exotic species smuggling racket busted recently by the Chennai Customs authorities.
S Ravikumar (41), havildar number 4938 of the TSP VI battalion in Madurai, was dismissed from service on May 11, a senior police official said.
According to sources, Ravikumar is suspected to have made more than 10 trips to foreign countries including Malaysia and Thailand over the last three years. The value of wildlife species smuggled in by him in recent times would be around Rs 5 crore, investigators said.
Marmoset monkeys, red-tailed guenon (monkey), Tegu lizards, and several varieties of ball python and Fennec fox were among the host of exotic animals that were suspected to have been smuggled into the country. Ravikumar was arrested by customs officials outside the Chennai international airport on April 12 after he allegedly received 484 red-eared slider turtles and nine African spurred tortoises from Mohammed Mubeen, a passenger from Bangkok.
Investigation revealed that Ravikumar got involved in the racket after running an aquarium in Kolathur under his wife’s name. He never took the approval of his superiors, as mandated by service rules, for his foreign trips, sources said.
He was earlier arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Special Enforcement Bureau for illegal possession, transportation, and trading of Indian star tortoise in the Venkatagiri forest range near Tirupati in 2022. He was attached to the TSP’s III battalion in Veerapuram and had received two suspension orders.
The central agency had written to Tamil Nadu police detailing Ravikumar’s alleged role in the wildlife smuggling racket for which Chennai airport has been identified as a global hub.
Currently Ravikumar is out on bail, and the case against him is being investigated by Customs and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB).