CHENNAI: The two-storey house at Lakshmipuram in Kolathur, which Chennai Customs and state wildlife officials sealed after seizing 647 native Indian scheduled wildlife species on Sunday, has been rented for the past nine months by dismissed police constable S Ravikumar (41), identified by investigators as a lynchpin of a multi-crore international wildlife trafficking network.
While one set of investigators confirmed Ravikumar’s involvement in this racket, forest department sources said his name has not been included in the case they have registered.
When TNIE visited the house on Tuesday, neighbours said in November last year, Ravikumar and his wife had taken the 600-square-foot house for a monthly rent of Rs 17,000 from Padmanabhan, a lawyer living on the same lane, to run an ornamental fish culture business, for which Kolathur is famous for.
In fact, a neighbour told TNIE that Ravikumar had enquired about availability of more such houses for rent in isolated locations. “He never allowed anyone inside the house. It remained locked most of the time. Only he, his wife and three workers would come occasionally,” said Sundaramurthy, a retired transport department staff.
Investigators said the house was used as a godown or transit point for smuggling exotic species like monkeys and ball pythons and native Indian species like star tortoises. While the exotic species were sold to buyers, mainly through social media, the native Indian species were trafficked abroad.
In an exclusive report on May 26, TNIE had reported how Ravikumar made several foreign trips to Malaysia and Thailand and smuggled in animals worth Rs 5 crore. He is currently in prison after being arrested by Customs at Chennai airport on April 12.
Residents on the lane said though they were always curious about why Ravikumar was paying a huge rent for such a small house that has just two rooms and a staircase.
“My dog would sometimes bark late at night. We didn’t think of any suspicious activity then,” a resident, who shares a wall with that house, said.
Sundaramurthy said, “Till the raid on Sunday morning, we did not know that Ravikumar was running such a business. He used to dress in a very simple manner, ride just a bike and drink tea with us at the shop near the house.”
Meanwhile, 237 Indian roofed and tricarinate hill turtles, 383 star tortoises, three black pond turtles and one regular ball python were found on a few trays inside the houses, forest department sources said. A total of 23 turtles inside the house were found dead, a senior official said, adding that all the native species are listed under Schedule 1 of Wildlife (Protection) Act.
Vandalur zoo authorities, where the animals have been shifted to following a court order, told TNIE most of the Indian roofed turtle and star tortoises are juveniles and in critical condition, as they were kept in small boxes with poor ventilation inside the house. “We have started providing necessary care, but are not sure how many of them will survive,” an official added.
