Assam’s border district police sensitised on wildlife crimes

Guwahati, Feb 18 (PTI) With the police playing an important role in the prevention and mitigation of crimes against wildlife and illegal trade in wildlife parts, the law enforcers of Assam’s Charaideo district were on Friday sensitised on such illegal activities.

Biodiversity research and conservation organisation ‘Aaranyak’, in cooperation with the district police headed by its Superintendent of Police Sudhakar Singh, organised the workshop, a press release issued by the NGO said here.

Charaideo shares a boundary with Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, which have international borders, making it among the vulnerable areas and routes for carrying out wildlife crimes, it said.

Dr. Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, the secretary-general, and CEO of ‘Aaranyak’ spoke on how social unrest could induce a grave threat to wildlife resources and how the prevalence of wildlife crime will endanger national security because of its intricate link to insurgency, arms smuggling, and narcotics drugs trade.

He explained at length the alarming global scenario of wildlife crime as on date with a focus on rhino poaching.

Dr. Jimmy Borah, senior manager of the Legal and Advocacy Division (LAD) at ‘Aaranyak’, emphasised wildlife crime perspectives and flagged how collaborations among different security agencies can bring about a change for better in tackling the menace.

Ivy Farheen Hussain, project officer at Aaranyak, gave an overview of burgeoning crimes against wildlife beyond mega species and explained the kind of wildlife crimes prevalent in the northeast region.

She stressed that criminals committing crimes against wildlife are as much a danger to society as any other offenders.

They also discussed the Wildlife Protection Act at length, including its various relevant provisions and mandates. PTI SSG MM MM