Sansar Chand's brother arrested

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THE TIMES OF INDIA

7 August 2009

Sariska poacher Sansar Chand’s brother arrested

JAIPUR: Notorious poacher Sansar Chand's brother, also involved in numerous

cases of poaching that ultimately led to the Sariska Tiger Reserve being

cleaned off the big cat, was arrested by state forest officials in New Delhi

on Thursday.

According to minister of state for forests, environment and mining Ram Lal

Jat, Narayan, brother of Sansar Chand, was arrested while making an

appearance in a criminal case at the Tees Hazari court in Delhi.

" We had prior information that Narayan would be making an appearance at the

Tees Hazari court for a case on Thursday. A team of forest and police

officials waited outside and no sooner did he step out of the court, the

Rajasthan team arrested him, " said the minister.

The arrest of Narayan has been hailed by National Tiger Conservation

Authority (NTCA). " It is a commendable job done by the the forest

department. We will help the state forest department to ensure that the

accused is prosecuted, " an NTCA official said.

The forest department had been intimated of Narayan's presence in the court

by CBI. " We were lucky to nab him. Several similar attempts in the past had

failed, " an official said. In fact, the accused was wanted by the department

for the past five years.

The forest officials were led by assistant conservator of forests Mukesh

Saini and included range officers Chanda Ram, Nawab Singh, Arvind Jha and

six others. Narayan will be produced in the district court in Alwar on

Friday.

Narayan had been helping his brother Sansar Chand for poaching tigers at

Sariska and was involved in several other wildlife crimes. Narayan is also

specifically wanted for the poaching of a panther in Tehla region in Sariska

in 2004.

Sansar Chand, who was finally arrested from his residence in 2005, is

currently cooling his heels in jail. But his brother, brother-in-law,

sisters, and other relatives continue to trade in wildlife produces.

Earlier in October 2004, Rajasthan police had tried to arrest Chand but

failed. That was the time when Sariska saw unprecedented poaching as Chand

used his contacts on the fringe areas of Sariska for finishing off as many

as 22 tigers. By February 2005, Sariska was cleaned off any tiger.

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