Kingpin of reptile smuggling racket held in Kanpur

NEW DELHI: In a major blow to an organised illegal wildlife trafficking network, MP State Tiger Strike Force, in coordination with Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, arrested Tarak Nath Ghosh, kingpin of a reptile smuggling racket, from Kanpur Sunday, reports Vishwa Mohan.Ghosh, part of a gang once operated by Chennai-based international wildlife smuggler Manivannan Murugesan, is wanted in three cases of transnational illegal trade in turtles and gharials registered in MP.Murugesan was arrested in 2018, but Ghosh had been absconding. "He operated from Kolkata and trafficked gharials and turtles to Bangladesh after procuring them from Chambal and Yamuna rivers," an official said."We have been tracking his movement ever since he left Kolkata and finally arrested him Sunday evening. He had escaped the radar of enforcement agencies twice in the past," he said.After the arrest of Murugesan, who is also wanted in Thailand for a 2012 case involving the smuggling of 840 radiated tortoises, Ghosh used to be the leader of the gang. He is also suspected to have a network outside India, including in Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar and Singapore.Ghosh on Monday was produced before the chief judicial magistrate in Madhya Pradesh's Shivpuri. “His interrogation will give us more details on his operations that spread across several states, including UP, MP, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal,” said the official.India has, on the other hand, agreed for extradition of Murugesan to Thailand. A Delhi court had in January recommended his extradition to Thailand to face charges for the 2012 case.