The Madhya Pradesh State Tiger Strike Force (MP STSF), in a coordinated operation with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), has arrested Tarak Nath Ghosh, the kingpin of a reptile smuggling racket, from Kanpur district in Uttar Pradesh.
The accused, wanted in three cases of transnational illegal trade in turtles and gharials registered in Madhya Pradesh, had been absconding for eight years. Arrest warrants had been issued against him by three different courts.
His syndicate is spread across several states, including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and West Bengal. He is also suspected to have a network outside India, including in Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar and Singapore.
Ghosh’s arrest is a major blow to the organised illegal wildlife trafficking network. He will be produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Shivpuri (Madhya Pradesh), on March 9 (Monday). Police/forest custody remand will be sought to obtain further information and intelligence about his alleged network.
Earlier, on February 3, the STSF team had busted a wildlife trafficking gang transporting rare turtles through railway routes from Uttar Pradesh to cities in Madhya Pradesh.
A joint team of the STSF, RPF, and Forest Department seized 311 live turtles from an AC First Class coach attendant on the Patna–Indore Express at Sant Hirdaram Nagar station.
Further raids exposed a network of traders, pet shop owners, and carriers. In total, 313 protected turtles and two parakeets were rescued, and several suspects were arrested.
In this train raid, accused Ajay Singh Rajput, an AC First Coach attendant, was caught with 311 live rare and protected turtles. The investigation revealed an organised network involving pet shop owners, traders, dog breeders, and railway staff.
Raids across multiple cities led to several arrests. Authorities seized 313 turtles of four protected species, two Rose-ringed parakeets, a motorcycle, and seven mobile phones.
All the accused were presented in the Bhopal court and sent to jail. Sources said that after the tip-off from this raid, the joint team has started following the main kingpin Ghosh.