Notorious tiger poacher Ajit arrested in Chandrapur

Chandrapur: Notorious tiger poacher Ajit Rajgond, alias Ajit Pardhi, was arrested and remanded in six days of forest custody by a special court on Sunday. The arrest prompted the forest department to issue alerts in all tiger-bearing districts in Maharashtra, since it has come to fore that he was moving through the state since the past many months.A team led by ACF Pawankumar Jong apprehended Ajit, the leader of Baheliya poacher gang, from a makeshift camp in Bamanwada village, near Rajura town, on Saturday evening. However, his brother Keru and two other gang members managed to escape. The forest team seized weapons and poaching material from Ajit's camp, confirming his activities in the region. Ajit's camp falls under the jurisdiction of the Rajura forest range in the Central Chanda forest division.According to sources, Ajit and his gang had been camping in the interiors of Bamanwada for the last three months. Although foresters had initially spared women and children residing in the camp, they later arrested several co-accused on Monday. Those arrested include Ajit's mother, Injectionbai Pardhi, wife Reemabai, and associates Ravina Ayush, Seva Yash, and Rajkumari Pardhi. They, too, have been remanded in forest custody.While no tiger body parts were seized from Ajit's possession, the case of a tigress from Devlapar, Pench, missing since last couple of months has raised concerns. Experts urged the forest department to verify the number of tigers missing from Chandrapur and surrounding forests. "This gang primarily operates in areas without camera traps or steals the cameras before setting their traps," said an expert.Ajit, along with his brothers Keru and Kuttu, is believed to have poached more than 30 tigers across India. He was previously arrested in Chandrapur in connection with the seizure of a tiger skin from a poacher on the Sampark Kranti Express in November 2006. His gang's activities have been linked to multiple poaching cases, including laying traps in Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary in 2006. Ajit's involvement also came to the fore in three poaching cases in 2013 in the forests under Nagpur district.Ajit was arrested in Tirupati in 2014-15, based on intelligence provided by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. He was convicted in a tiger poaching case and sentenced to prison. Following his release, he was arrested again in July 2024 by the Madhya Pradesh forest department for tiger poaching. However, after being granted bail by a Jabalpur court in September 2024, he went underground.Ajit is learnt to have made his base in Rajura since the past three months and had spread his activities across India from here. Despite residing near a taluka headquarters for three months, the Baheliya gang successfully evaded detection by local authorities. Neither the local police nor the village patil reported their presence. Forest officials are now scrutinising Ajit's phone records and financial transactions to unravel the gang's operations and network.

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