5 December 2007

In one of the biggest wildlife cases this decade, the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police with the assistance of the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) seized three tiger skins and three tiger skeletons in 

The Executive Director of WPSI, Belinda Wright, with the STF Police team led by DSP Mr Aravind Chaturvedi (in the orange sweater) and two of the accused Jarsi and Mhd Ayyub (far left)

Allahabad on Tuesday, 4th December 2007. 

Sixteen people were arrested, including wildlife trader Shabeer Hasan Qureshi who is an accused in at least four major wildlife cases.  In

Shabeer Hasan Qureshi, the biggest tiger trader in India, is now behind bars	The STF of UP Police with three of the accused and the three tiger skins  and tiger skeletons, seized in Allahabad

particular, Qureshi is the prime accused in the January 2000 case in Khaga, UP, when four tiger skins, 70 leopard skins and a huge haul of other wildlife products were seized. Three other traders were arrested along with two tiger poachers and ten women couriers who belong to the Baheliya community.

The case is a landmark for wildlife enforcement as it includes the arrest of the three key elements of the killing of wild tigers: buyers, poachers and couriers.

“This is a major breakthrough in the fight against wildlife crime in India”, said Belinda Wright, Executive Director of WPSI. “Qureshi is the biggest buyer of tiger products in India today. We are delighted with this case and have nothing but praise for the way in which it was handled by the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police. They succeeded by using intelligence-led enforcement which is the only way to effectively tackle this growing menace”, she added. The operation was led by Superintendent of Police, STF, Mr Amitabh Yash, and STF’s Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr Aravind Chaturvedi.

Three magnificent tigers reduced to skin and bones. Allahabad, 4 December 2007. © WPSI

Preliminary investigations indicate that one of the tigers was killed in Kanha Tiger Reserve in the state of Madhya Pradesh, and another in Tadoba Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. It is not known where the third tiger came from.