Notorious Poacher Raj Bahadur Singh sentenced to 3 years Rigorous Imprisonment

Pashu Sandesh, 09 May 2019

This news certainly would put a smile on the faces of Wild Life Lovers, Activists and all those who are involved in the Anti-poaching Operations. In a big judgement, District Court Amethi has awarded 3 years rigorous imprisonment and imposed Rupees 20000 fine on the notorious poacher Raj Bahadur who was caught in 2017 by the STF in Gauriganj area of the Amethi with the biggest ever haul of poached Turtles in India. Nearly 6400 freshwater Turtles were seized in the single haul. Turtles were stuffed in the bags and weighed over 4 tonnes.

Raj Bahadur the kingpin of the whole poaching and smuggling operations was using the high tech network involving fisherman and transporters. Luxury Vehicles were used for the transport of the Turtles to avoid any suspicion. These Turtles were scheduled to be smuggled to Bangladesh, China, Myanmar and other south-east Asian countries. Turtle meat is in high demand in these regions and Turtles are also used as medicines as aphrodisiacs.

The STF involved in the recovery was led by then Additional SP, Dr Arvind Chaturvedi along with DSP PK Mishra, Inspector Rajesh Tripathi, Hemant Bhushan Singh, GK Rai, SI Raj Dev Pathak, Head Constable Shivendra, Constables Alok, Ram Singh and Arvind. For their exemplary work, then SSP STF Amit Pathak announced cash reward to boost the morale of the team.

Dr Arvind Chaturvedi who is currently SP Ghazipur has expressed happiness and satisfaction over the sentencing of the Raj Bahadur Singh. He feels rewarded for the whole effort which involved spending nights in biting cold to nab the fugitive Raj Bahadur.

Recovered Turtles were then kept and nurtured with the utmost care by TSA team led by Arunima Singh and then released in their natural surroundings. These Turtles are found in abundance in the river Ganga and its tributaries. Many of these Turtle species are listed in the endangered category of International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN’s) Red List of Threatened Species.

Pashu Sandesh congratulates Dr Arvind Chaturvedi and his team and hopes their bravery and dedication would be an inspiration to the others.