AR siezes banned wildlife products
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, June 29 2011: Troops of 31 Assam Rifles along with lady police apprehended three women along with banned wild life products from a Bolero jeep(04A 3113) during a routine checking at Khudengthabi in Manipur's Chandel district on Tuesday.

The apprehended women are Kikim Haokip, 42 yrs wife of Robat Haokip of Checkon locality in Imphal, Ruth Liangmei, 35 yrs daughter of John Laingmei of Lanka village and L K Haokip, 39 yrs wife of Hamang of Songluna, Motbung village,both under Senapati district of the state.

Twelve kilograms of Pangolin Shells, two mobile hand sets and Indian currency Rs.4040 were recovered from the arrested ladies who were later over along with the recovered items to Customs Office, Moreh,Public Relations Officer(PRO) of Assam Rifles said in a statement here tonight.

Meanwhile troops of 29 Assam Rifles in yet another incident,apprehended an individual along with banned wild life products at Sita track junction in Chandel district on Tuesday morning.

The arrested person was Panewat,63 yrs,son of Yangam of Moreh.1800 Nos of Pangolin shells,one mobile phone and Indian currency of Rs.505 were recovered from the apprehended individual and handed over to Chief Conservator of Forest Department, Imphal the statement added.

The frequent seizure of the wildlife products in Manipur indicates that the Indo-Myanmar route in Manipur appears to have become one of the main transit points for smugglers to transport wildlife products to china and other South Asian countries.

Soldiers of Assam Rifles who had been guarding Manipur sector of the Indo-Myanmar International border as many as 1132 kgs of pangolin shells including 15 kgs of tiger bones and 19 kgs of leopard bones besides their skulls(tigers-1,leopard-5)and skins(tiger-4.5kg,leopard-13kgs) along with 14 Deer horns in the last one year,according to PRO Major Saunat Kamat.

So far two individuals-Zamlungthang(26) of Churachandpur and Thangboi Singson(37) of New Lambulane,Imphal were imprisoned under Wildlife Protection act 1972 which prescribes a minimum imprisonment of three years which extend to seven years besides a minimum fine of Rs.10,000. The imprisonment may extend to seven years.

A senior forest official speaking to this reporter said the frequent seizure and subsequent disclosure of the arrested persons --it is learnt that most of these wildlife products were used for manufacturing medicine in China.The wildlife products were mostly transported from places such as Rajasthan,Orissa and Andhra Pradhesh .

Pangolin shell costs Rs 10,000 to 15,000 per kilogram at Manipur's border town- Moreh,100 km south of the state capital Imphal.

Expressing the fear of disappearing the said animal, the official opined that rare animals' parts are in high demand by cosmetic and drug-manufacturing companies in Southeast Asian countries and smugglers take advantage of the porous borders to siphon off the wildlife treasure.

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