(IN): Jumbo kidnap in ownership battle

[Guest guest]

The news item below is an excellent example of how animal protection and

wildlife laws are being openly flouted by the powerful and influential lot

in their capacity.

 

Please be informed that Sonepur is not a militant hideout or needle in a

haystack, it is one of the most popular tourist destination which is

frequented by foreign and local tourists and for no good reason.

This place is perhaps the Biggest illegal wildlife market in India which

manages to carry out its activities while the physically challenged

enforcement agencies watch as mute spectator.

 

Sonepur is a den of hardcore criminals who are robbing the wildlife of India

and this they have been doing for generations.

Here as an animal rights person you simply cannot enter.

 

I must say that few years back I was able to track and expose the smuggling

of 4 (four) captive elephants bound for Sonepur- Bihar.

The elephants were crammed inside a Railway Parcel wagon (such wagons are

not meant to ferry elephants).

It was a smart railway police constable who detected that micro chips were

missing in two elephants, this led to an enquiry.

The matter was also reported in the media and got much publicity.

But later I was told that the elephants were allowed to proceed to Sonepur.

Where there is a will, there is a way. And this principle is what is being

used by the wildlife mafia to sustain their business.

Even today I am told that Railway wagons are being used to ferry elephants

from Assam, Northeast India into Bihar.

It is safe, one cannot see what is being carried inside.

 

It is now only with international pressure and condemnation that we perhaps

can bring a change.

 

Azam

 

 

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081120/jsp/nation/story_10134020.jsp

 

Jumbo kidnap in ownership battle

NALIN VERMA One of the elephants at the Sonepur fair. Deepak Kumar

 

*Patna, Nov. 19:* First it was the samosas, now it's a kidnapping —

everything about Sonepur is jumbo.

 

An elephant and its mahout were snatched from the Sonepur cattle fair last

night by gun-toting henchmen of a local landlord, after word spread that the

animal was to be sold for a huge sum.

 

Pachyderms are the biggest draw at the fair, but since trade in elephants is

banned, any sale is passed off as a " gift " . The fair had set tongues wagging

this week when a snack vendor almost wangled Rs 10,000 from a Dutch couple

for four samosas, until some volunteers stepped in.

 

The animal was found today in nearby Baijalpur village, where it has now

been chained outside the house of former headman Chandrika Singh while an

ownership dispute between two friends-turned-foes is resolved.

 

Landlords Arbind Singh and Ramji Singh had bought the elephant in Assam in

June. Like at the Sonepur fair, the deal was shown officially as a " gift " .

However, the Assam seller gave only Arbind the power of attorney in the

" donation chit " , giving him the right to " donate or gift " the animal away.

 

" Arbind and Ramji had documents from Assam's wildlife department to

transport the jumbo to Bihar, " said P.K. Das, the Sonepur deputy

superintendent of police and the officer in charge of law and order at the

fair.

 

Arbind was offered a high price for the elephant and planned to sell it

without telling his friend but Ramji found out, the police said.

 

Last night, Ramji's gun-toting henchmen raided the fair tent where the

elephant had been chained and abducted the animal along with mahout

Kamaluddin while Arbind and his friends were asleep.

 

Arbind later lodged a police complaint saying Ramji had stolen the elephant.

Ramji retaliated with the same charge.

 

When the police found the elephant in Baijalpur village, DSP Das and his

colleagues decided to tie the animal to Chandrika's door while they sorted

out the tangle. The police and fair officials are trying to decide which of

the two friends should get the elephant.

 

Arbind denies plans to sell the elephant. " I had no intention to sell the

animal without Ramji's consent, though I had paid more than Ramji in Assam. "

Ramji countered the claim, saying he had more " land and property " and,

therefore, had shelled out more.

 

Chandrika can't wait for the deadlock to end. " I am not rich. I find it hard

to feed the jumbo. Still I am feeding it as I don't want to earn the wrath

of Lord Ganesh. "

 

As the row rages, Baijalpur, used to watching gun-toting commandos escorting

ministers and officials, has a new VIP in its midst: the elephant, ringed by

policemen.

 

 

 

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http://www.stopelephantpolo.com

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