Bijay Sankar Bora
KAJALGAON (CHIRANG DISTRICT, ASSAM), Feb 26: A workshop on prevention of wildlife crimes and intelligence gathering conducted for SSB personnel underlined the need for efficient coordination among the intelligence cell of the Sashastra Seema Bol (SSB), Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and proactive wildlife conservation organisations like Aaranyak (www.aaranyak.org).
The workshop organized today by the WCCB and Aaranyak with 15th Battalion of SSB located at Kajalgaon in Chirang district of Assam. The workshop assumes significance given that SSB personnel are entrusted to guard the India-Bhutan Border and the personnel from the 15th Battalion are posted in Manas National Park area along the international boundary.
D B Sonar, commandant, 15th Battalion, SSB Kajalgaon inaugurated the workshop. In his inaugural speech he highlighted the urgent need for striking real-time coordination among intelligence cells of SSB, WCCB and NGOs like Aaranyak for combating the rising graph of wildlife crime.
He stated that enforcement officers would have to work very sincerely and diligently in dealing with wildlife crimes so that the offenders won’t get acquitted in the court of law.
The commandant urged the officers of the SSB attending the workshop to convey the information and the knowledge gathered in the workshop to the lowest ranks in the force. “Because of the location of 15th Battalion of the SSB all deployments are mostly in Manas National Park, guarding against cross-border wildlife crime becomes our most important duty,” he said.
Assistant director of WCCB, Jawaharlal Baro during his discussion highlighted the present wildlife crime scenario in the sprawling Manas National Park (MNP) and urged the participants to work hard to bridge the disparity between actual and reported cases.
He said one of the few positive outcome of COVID 19 pandemic has been that it has converted the illegal international trade in wildlife parts to a local trade leading to more seizures and arrests.
Addressing the workshop, internationally acclaimed rhino conservation expert and the CEO of Aaranyak, Dr Bibhab Kumar Talukdar discussed about the global perspective of wildlife crime with a focus on rhinos. He mentioned that wildlife crime has now become intricately linked with proliferation of fake Indian currency notes, international arms smuggling which pose grave threat to the national security.
Intelligence assistant of WCCB Hiten Bora talked about techniques of Intelligence gathering and decoy deal. He stressed that wildlife crime is always demand-driven and flagged the importance of reliable informers for breaking the crime chain. He also mentioned about human and economic dimensions on wildlife trade.
Aaranyak and WCCB will carry out more such workshops on wildlife crimes prevention for men in uniform in various parts of the Northeast in coming days so as to raise the awareness level among the enforcement agencies to deal with wildlife crimes as efficiently as possible under the provisions of Wildlife Prevention Act ,1972 and related laws.