Odisha police brace up to curb illegal wildlife trade

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Cuttack, Apr 9:

The Odisha Police today organised a one-day workshop on wildlife conservation and protection to explore ways to handle cases pertaining to illegal wildlife trade.

The workshop, organised by the state Crime Branch, was attended by the officers of 55 police stations.

The workshop deliberated on condition of poaching in the state, collection of intelligence about the conservation status of wildlife in the state, new method of investigation, seizure, DNA and forensic test of wild animals.

Besides, investigation of cases pertaining to wildlife in accordance with the Wildlife Protection Act,  1972 was also discussed at the workshop.

Senior IFS officer Shekhar Kumar Niraj, chief of Police Radio Training School, Indore, Varun Kapoor and senior lawyer of the Supreme Court, Saurabh Sharma provided tips to the officers at the workshop.

“The workshop was organised to sensitize and train the officers of police stations that lie within or nearby sanctuaries to curb the illegal poaching and wildlife trade. A 10-member team of well known experts of Traffic India, an organization of international repute, trained our officers on wildlife forensics, investigation and prosecution, Wildlife Protection Act, the need of wildlife forensic and methods of seizure etc,” said Crime Branch ADG BK Sharma.

“The workshop discussed about the rules in the Wildlife Protection Act, methods for proper investigation. The wildlife experts and senior officers, during the training session, shared their knowledge and experience with our officers to enhance their capabilities,” said Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjeev Marik.

“Illegal wildlife trade is a major challenge for us. Since police play an important role in dealing with this unlawful activity, it is imperative for the state police to sensitize its officers with necessary inputs to enable them to handle such cases effortlessly,” said Kapoor.