(IN): Ample proof to nail Czechs: Forest dept

[Guest guest]

*Ample proof to nail Czechs: Forest dept*

 

 

*Plans To Track Down Racket Through Website In Which 'Scientist' Offered To

Sell Butterflies*

 

Prithvijit Mitra | TNN

 

Kolkata: The forest department believes it has enough evidence to nail both

Petr Svecha and Emil Kucera. Through a website on which Svecha had offered

to sell butterflies and insects, it plans to track down a racket that trades

in rare species and smuggles them out of the eastern Himalayan region.

According to a senior forest department official, there is evidence to show

that the two had more than just an academic interest in butterflies and

beetles.

" We are in the process of tracking the route they would have used to

smuggle the catch. China and Tibet are huge markets for insects and

butterflies. Svecha and Kucera had contacts there and the former was a

regular visitor to China. We are trying to identify their overseas contacts

with the help of our intelligence network, " said the officer.

Speaking to TOI on Thursday, the lawyer of the accused, Sheshmani Gurung,

said Svacha and Kucera had come to Darjeeling " purely as tourists " . " They

had not collected any butterfly or beetle as has been alleged. The two went

around the park, observing the rare species and making notes, which is

perfectly legal. They had not collected the butterflies that were apparently

found in their possession. The forest department acted in a high-handed

manner without bothering to find out if the insects had actually been

collected by them. It is important to note that they were not caught

redhanded but arrested from a hotel. They should have been more careful and

not allowed themselves to be used by someone else. But their offence is not

serious enough, and they will receive a bail once the court starts

functioning, " said Gurung.

The forest department refuted the claim. A scientist and a forester, they

argued, couldn't have been so naive. " If they really are what they are

claiming to be, there is all the more reason why they should be punished.

Not only didn't they have permission to collect butterflies or insects, they

were not even carrying anything to prove their identity. Being a scientist

or a forester doesn't give them the licence to collect rare species from a

forest in a foreign country. Their motive is suspect and we will try our

best to ensure that they are not released quickly, " said Utpal Nag,

assistant divisional forest officer of Darjeeling.

Even though the forest department has no organized intelligence

department, it takes the help of ecodevelopment committees comprising

villagers and locally appointed informers to keep tabs on suspects.

In the wake of the arrest of several foreigners in the last few years,

the department has been screening them more strictly, conceded officials.

Tour operators and hoteliers have also been asked to be on alert. The WWF,

too, has been roped in to act as a coordinator between the police, forest

department, Customs and the department of revenue intelligence. The move has

yielded results.

In 2005, two Japanese visitors were arrested from Sikkim for illegal

possession of rare insects. Last year, a German student was arrested for

catching beetles without permission in Darjeeling. In both cases, the

offenders were let off in less than a week, as the species recovered from

them were not included in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. The

butterflies and beetles seized from Svecha and Kucera are listed under

Schedule I.

 

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