Kolkata zoo:‘Promises’ downplayed, undergoes little change,awaits marmosets!

[Guest guest]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/promises-downplayed-zoo-undergoes-little-chang\

e/509198/

 

‘Promises’ downplayed, zoo undergoes little change

 

Pragya Paramita Tags : animals, Alipore Zoo, monkey Posted: Monday , Aug 31,

2009 at 0246 hrs Kolkata:

 

A Fortnight after the drama over the theft of marmosets, little has been done on

ground to overhaul the Alipore Zoo.

 

 

 

The incident led to the suspension of the zoo director and the authorities had

assured that the zoo would undergo major changes to prevent such recurrences.

 

 

The most glaring being the cage from where the marmosets were stolen on August

9, which is still in the same condition and is yet to be repaired.

 

 

The marmosets, meanwhile, are expected to arrive in Kolkata from Chhattishgarh

on late Sunday night.

 

 

The newly-appointed director, Raju Das, had said the security will be tightened,

CCTVs will be installed, boundary walls will be fenced, the hoardings will be

removed and modern cages for the animals will be set up.

 

 

So far, the only the number of private security guards have been increased from

23 to 68.

 

 

According to Das, there was very little that he could do. “All the changes that

have been planned are going to be done by the Central Zoo authorities and even

the maintenance is in their hands,” said Das. “There is a committee which is

in-charge of maintaining the zoo, including the cages,” he added.

 

After the theft, Das had said that the Central Zoo authority would be preparing

a master plan, including bigger enclosures for the animals. But when the

marmosets finally come back to the zoo they will have to go back to their old

cages from which they were stolen.

 

 

After they are brought back to the city, they will first be sent to the zoo

hospital opposite the zoological garden where they will be quarantined for at

least another fortnight before sending them back to their cages.

 

 

Sujoy Das alias Bubai, one of the accused in the theft, was produced in Alipore

court on Sunday and has been sent to police custody for 10 days.

 

 

--\

---------------

 

http://thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=22 & theme= & usrsess=1 & id=266841

 

Marmosets to be kept under observation

 

KOLKATA, 30 AUG: The Alipore Zoo authorities have decided to keep the marmosets,

recovered from Chattishgarh on Friday, under special observation for at least

two weeks before shifting them to the Zoo.

Zookeepers and policemen, who had rushed to Durg following the recovery of the

animals, have left for Kolkata today. They are are expected to reach the city

tomorrow. The marmosets would be quarantined and kept under observation at a

separate campus near Alipore Zoo. Later they would be shifted to their cages,

said Mr Raju Das, director Alipore Zoo.

Meanwhile, an accused in the marmosets theft case, Sujoy Das alias Bubai, who

was arrested yesterday from Dum Dum, was produced before the Alipore court and

remanded in police custody for ten days.

During interrogation he denied his involvement in the crime though he admitted

to his association with the prime accused, Rajesh Saikiya, who was arrested from

Durg on Friday night. Saikiya, however, claimed that Bubai was the one who stole

the animals from zoo. Mr Jawed Shamim, joint commissioner (headquarters) of

Kolkata Police, said Bubai would be interrogated in the presence of Rajesh,

giving a chance to neither to conceal the truth.

Rajesh is to be brought to the city police's headquarters tomorrow, the officer

added.

Mr Deepanshu Kavra, superintendent of police Durg, said Rajesh was sent to

Kolkata on transit remand. “We are looking for Rajesh's accomplices who are

suspected to be operating from Pune and Mumbai. We are also investigating

whether other local people were involved in the crime or not”, added Mr Kavra.

SNS

 

 

--\

 

The Times of India, Kolkata August 31, 2009

 

Cops launch hunt for marmoset buyer

 

 

 

Police Convinced That Arrested Duo Had Carried Out Theft On Behalf Of Another

Person

 

 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

 

 

 

Kolkata: The city police are looking for the buyer who allegedly engaged Sujay

Das alias Bubai Bangali to steal common marmosets from Alipore zoo. After

interrogating Raj Saikia and Bangali, the two men arrested in connection with

the monkey theft case, the cops are convinced that the duo has acted on behalf

of another person.

Police are also sure that Raj and Bangali had carried out the theft on the

intervening night of August 8 and 9 . Sources said the two had cut the cage

wiring and stolen eight marmosets from the Lintu shed, where the animals had

been kept for breeding.

Police said they have come to know that the marmosets were to be handed over

to the buyer the next day. However, the buyer backed out after the theft hit the

headlines. For Bangali, this was a big blow. He couldn’t afford to keep the

marmosets in his custody. Details of the payment he was promised were, however,

yet to be known.

Meanwhile, Raj claimed before Chhattisgarh Police’s special crime branch —

which recovered seven of the eight stolen marmosets — that he was not in Kolkata

and an associate had brought the animals to him.

Kolkata Police said Raj had told the Chhattisgarh cops that the animals were

taken to a place near the Bengal-Jharkhand border through Kharagpur and handed

over to his aide.

“Raj met Bangali at a Maharashtra jail in 2007 where both of them were

housed,” said Naresh Patel, an officer with the special crime branch of

Chhattisgarh police.

The marmosets were taken to a house at Sarora in Raipur, where the tenant was

an associate of Raj.

Both Raj and Bangali are experts in selling stolen birds but have never been

involved in the smuggling of mammals. “Once the original buyer backed out,

problems cropped up for the two. They didn’t know whom to turn to. Both of them

had no idea about the prices of marmosets either. Moreover, they were feeling

scared,” an officer said.

The marmosets were kept in a cage at the Sarora house from where they were

rescued on Friday night. They were given banana, wheat and vermicelli. Two days

after being brought to Sarora, one of the marmosets died and was buried in the

backyard.

Feeling the heat, Raj started tapping his contacts in Rajasthan to look for

potential foreign customers interested in exotic pets. He even went to Rajasthan

but returned without any luck. Raj then contacted all his accomplices in his

hunt for a suitable buyer for the seven surviving marmosets.

Police got a whiff of these developments as word spread about the gang’s

activities. Posing as buyers, sleuths from the special crime branch team offered

Rs 35, 000 for the monkeys and then trapped Raj.

Meanwhile, Bangali was produced in a city court on Sunday and remanded in

police custody till September 9. The marmosets are likely to arrive on Monday

morning accompanied by a team from the detective department and forest

officials.

______________________________\

______

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090831/jsp/calcutta/story_11428564.jsp

Zoo awaits monkeys

A STAFF REPORTER

The marmosets stolen from Alipore zoo and rescued in Durg, Chhattisgarh, will

return home soon.

 

Zoo director Raju Das said the seven marmosets — one of them died in captivity —

were being kept in a Bhilai Steel Plant zoo till their travel plans were

finalised.

 

“We are arranging for their transportation to Calcutta. Our officers and police

are working out the modalities. It will be difficult to bring them by train, so

most probably they will be flown down on Monday evening or Tuesday morning,” Das

told Metro on Sunday.

 

“Security arrangements have been revamped and a new enclosure will be built to

house the recovered marmosets,” said a zoo official.

 

Calcutta police are awaiting the arrival of Raj Saikia, who was arrested in

Chhattisgarh on Friday in connection with the theft of the Common Marmosets.

 

Based on the information Saikia provided during interrogation, his alleged

associate, Sujoy Das, a 31-year-old Dum Dum resident also known as Babai, was

arrested by the city police on Saturday. Das was remanded in police custody till

September 8.

 

“Babai holds the key to the case and our officers are interrogating him to know

how many people were involved in the theft,” said an officer of the detective

department.

 

“Saikia said Babai had helped him transport the monkeys from Calcutta to

Chhattisgarh,” added the officer.

 

The rare monkeys — the size of large rats and worth around Rs 1 lakh each in the

illicit wildlife market — were stolen on August 9.

 

Saikia had planned to leave Durg with the monkeys on Monday for Pune in search

of buyers, claimed the crime branch in-charge of Durg police, Naresh Patel.

 

According to the police, the 33-year-old was working in a factory in Durg for

two years. The seven stolen marmosets and the body of the eighth were found in

his house in Sarona.

 

“We received a tip-off that Saikia was trying to sell marmosets and laid a trap

for him,” said the Durg police superintendent, Deepanshu Kabra.

 

 

 

 

--

Thank you for your compassion !

With best regards,

Debasis Chakrabarti

Compassionate Crusaders Trust

http://www.animalcrusaders.org