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ROLE OF BAWARIA GANGS IN POACHING OF TIGERS AND

LEOPARDS AND THEIR LINKAGES IN ILLEGAL TRANS-

BOUNDARY WILDLIFE TRADE

RAMESH K. PANDEY

Joint Development Commissioner,

Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME),

Government of India, Room No-723, A-Wing, 7th

Floor,

Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi-110011, ramesh.pandey@nic.in

ABSTRACT

The richness of the biodiversity in a human dominated landscape ignites the

predicament of poaching particularly for species like tigers, elephants and

rhinoceros. The astronomical value attached to the wildlife derivatives in the

international market has not only attracted some of the wandering communities

intensely involved in the poaching of tigers and leopards in the country but also

made the wildlife crime well organised having trans-boundary linkages. Keeping

in view the elimination of tiger population in some Tiger Reserves in the recent

past and present sensitivity involved in tiger protection in the country, the paper

unfolds the facts relating to involvement of Bawaria gangs in poaching of tigers

and leopards in the country and also their linkages in illegal trans-boundary

wildlife trade. It may be of immense assistance to the enforcing agencies in

understanding the lesser known aspects of Bawaria poachers in combating

organised wildlife crime effectively. It may also be beneficial to the field

formations in order to strategise their protection measures efficiently.

KEY WORDS

Wildlife, Tiger, Organised, Poaching, Bawaria, Illegal, Trans-boundary, Trade

INTRODUCTION

India has three important Biodiversity hotspots landscapes of the world

namely, Himalaya, Western Ghat & Sri Lanka and Indo-Burma region

(Conservation International : Biodiversity hotspots, 2005). The Indo-Burma

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region makes the world‟s top ten hotspots, a term used to describe the planet‟s

most biologically rich and threatened regions (IUCN, 2013). With the 2.5% of

world geographical area, 17% of human population and 18% of live stock, the

country still harbours 50% of world‟s tiger population, 70% of Asiatic elephant

and 75% of the one horned rhinoceros population. India houses more than 60,000

species of wild animals & 45,000 species of plants and has one of the largest

reservoirs of natural habitat (CBI Bulletin, 2004). However, in human dominated

landscapes of the country, the protection of the major faunal species has become

a challenge, particularly due to rampant poaching of wild animals and persistent

high demand of the wildlife derivatives in international markets (Pandey, 2009).

Moreover, such extrinsic factors may lead to elimination of a species from its

natural habitat.

Considering the fast depleting wildlife resources, the enactment of Wildlife

Protection Act 1972 was the stepping stone towards protecting wildlife in the

country, which was followed by endorsing the Convention on International Trade

in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES) and subsequently

launching Project Tiger in early 1970s. Nevertheless till 5th

September 2011, India

could declare 668 Protected Areas across the country with 102 National Parks,

515 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 47 Conservation Reserve and 4 Community Reserves

under Wildlife Protection Act-1972 (Forest Sector Report India 2010, n.a.). One

of the recent declarations of Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttarakhand States

indicates the consistent efforts being made by the governments in protecting and

managing the wildlife and natural resources of the area (Live Mint, 2012).

Project Tiger was launched by the Government of India in the year 1973 to

save the endangered species of tiger in the country. Starting from nine (9) reserves

in 1973-74 the number has grown up to forty one (41). A total area of 65,178.68

km2 is covered by these project tiger areas (Envis Center on Wildlife and

Protected Areas, 2014). Even after various policy and legal instrument in place the

tiger population in the country depleted drastically in the last two decades. As per

the tiger estimation in 2006 the tiger population was only 1411 with lower limit at

1165 and upper limit at 1675. However, the latest Tiger Census carried out by the

WII in 2010 revealed the estimated tiger population in the country at 1706 with a

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lower range at 1571 and upper limit at 1875 (Press Information Bureau, GoI,

2011).

One of the major reasons for the loss of the wildlife specially tigers have

been rampant poaching and illegal trans-boundary trade of parts and products in

international markets. The tigers in India were not killed by the locals for any

domestic use, but were poached by organised wildlife criminals including

wandering gangs like Bawaria and Pardhis. The elimination of tiger population in

Sariska and Panna tiger reserves in the recent past are burning examples of

impact of such organised poaching in the country. The WPSI data reveals killing

or poaching of 978 tigers from 1994 to 2013 (WPSI, 2014). The current Tigernet

statistics, as jointly maintained by NTCA and Traffic India, says 5 cases of tigers

poaching or seizure of tiger parts have been detected till May 2014(Tigernet, a

directory of tigers and other wildlife mortality, 2014), which clearly indicates that

the problem of tiger poaching not only continues but also remains a major

challenge for PA managers, enforcement agencies and policy makers.

Poaching of tigers and other mega faunal species like elephants and rhinos

are no longer a local or sporadic crime for the purpose of bush meat, amusement

and other local consumptions. It has now become an organized crime

(Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999) being carried out in

professional and planned manner with the involvement of wandering gangs.

Some regions, especially international borders of India are extremely vulnerable

to illegal trade in wildlife. Lucrative prices offered for wild animal skins, bones,

ivory, musk, bear bile and other wildlife derivatives as well as endangered

species of butterfly, birds and plant products etc. have significantly enhanced the

pecuniary gains of illegal trade. This has led to the growth of a large number of

mafia like operations which, the present staff and infrastructure, find difficult to

counter.

As per information available the markets of Nepal, China and South East

Asian countries are the biggest consumers of these products. India only serves as

the „source‟ and fulfils the external demands. The animal is usually poached in

India and then through a well established channel reaches its „sink‟ destinations.

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Since the demand for such products comes from international buyers, it becomes

very difficult for the enforcers to detect the trans-boundary networks and also to

work them out professionally. The accused arrested during the seizures of

wildlife parts and products are generally the „carriers‟. Information extraction

from „carriers‟ regarding backward and forward linkages in such cases has

always been a hard nut to crack (Seizure of tiger skin and bone in Katerniaghat,

2005), (Pandey, 2009). Therefore, it is the need of hour to understand the

networks and modules involved in organised wildlife crime. Figure-1 given

below depicts the linkages between buyer and suppliers keeping in account the

demand raised in International Markets. The International Buyers of Nepal and

China contact Indian Traders in different part of the country including Delhi

(Majnu ka tila) particularly for tiger and leopard skin and bones, who in turn

deals with middle men like Sansar Chand, Narayan and Shabbir Ahmad Qureshi.

The middle men remain in touch with carriers and poachers like Bawaria and

Pardhi gangs. It has been observed that Bawaria poachers have also taken the role

of middle men in various cases and have direct forward linkages with Indian

traders mainly Tibetan and Nepali criminals based in India (Pandey, 2009).

Figure-1: The hierarchy and network involved in poaching of tigers and leopards

Traditionally, some of the members of Pardhi, Mongya, Kanjar, Banjara,

Bahelia, Nat and Bawaria communities have been associated with wildlife

poaching (Vanyajeev Apradh: pardhi, Shikari evam Taskar(Hindi), 2008).

International

Buyers

Middle

Men

Indian

Traders

Poachers

Carrier

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Amongst them the Bawaria Gangs have been very active throughout the country

particularly in Himalayan foothills and Indian Terai to poach wild cats like Tigers

and leopards (R.C.No. 1/1/2007-2008/Sampurna Nagar Range/North Kheri

Division, Uttar Pradesh, 2007). They are professionally as well as traditionally

involved in killing of tigers and leopards in the country. Earlier they were acting

only as poachers but in due course of time they have evolved themselves as good

carriers (Bawaria women) and successful middle men as well. It is pertinent to

mention that Bawaria poachers were instrumental in elimination of tiger

population in Sariska Tiger Reserve and their involvement in many tiger and

leopard poaching cases has surfaced throughout the country.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In Three (3) different cases related to tiger poaching and illegal trans-

boundary trade of tiger skins and bones, sixteen (16) numbers of Bawarias

criminals were apprehended and interrogated by the author during his tenure at

Katerniaghat Wildlife Division under Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Uttar Pradesh from

01.01.2005 to 16.07.2008. The information related to Bawaria poachers were

collected and recorded during the interrogation and investigation of the cases. In

one of the three cases of this period, the accused were convicted by the court. The

facts documented in these cases were taken as base work to understand the role of

Bawaria poachers in tiger and leopard poaching and its illegal trade all along

Indo-Nepal border (Pandey, 2009).

Subsequently the author carried forward the works on Bawaria gangs

during his tenure at Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Ministry of

Environment and Forests, Government of India at New Delhi from 17.07.2008-

30.04.2012. Based on field works done for intelligence collection by the author

during this period various modules working in wildlife crime were busted by

enforcement agencies. For the purpose of study Three (3) important cases of tiger

and leopard poaching and illegal trade jointly worked out with the Forest

Department of Uttar Pradesh (Maharajganj tiger case), CBI (Nagpur-Delhi tiger-

leopard and otter case) and Haryana Police (Gurgaon tiger case) during 1st

August 2009 to 23rd

November 2009 were also included to establish the networks

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and linkages of Bawaria gangs in the country. The author collected, validated

and analysed the information relating to Bawaria gangs during investigation and

interrogations in these cases to draw reliable inference on the behaviour,

professional knowledge, movement, involvement, and modus operandi of

Bawaria gangs in tiger and leopard poaching and illegal trade across the borders.

The role of Bawaria poachers as carrier and middlemen and even some time as

traders were also observed during working out these cases.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

An overview of Bawaria poachers: Bawaria poachers basically

belong to khanabadosh Bawaria communities, who migrate from one place to

another for their livelihood. As per the information collected and observations

made, they move in small groups in search of suitable areas throughout the

country and indulge in killing big cats with the help of iron traps. The gangs

mostly settle in temporary small settlements called dera, in and around forests or

protected areas.

They do not easily mixed up with other civilized groups of the society and

keep bondage with other nomadic communities. They usually live with bare

minimum utensils and daily use articles except few of them have pukka houses

mostly in northern part of the country. The groups which are involved in illegal

wildlife trade mainly depend on the earnings from such crimes. During

interrogation they disclose themselves as Bhat, Bawaria, Lodh, Bagadiya,

Mongia, Lodha Rajput, Bagadi etc. They use fake names to hide their original

identities and it is also been found that they carry more than one identity proofs

with different names to dodge enforcement agencies.

They prefer to settle temporarily in the bordering areas, which may be of

forest divisions, districts, states, or of countries. Bawaria criminals can be

categorised in two groups; one group is indulged in poaching of tigers and

leopards and the other is involved in dacoity or other such property related

offences. The former has been observed to be professional poachers and involved

in illegal killing of tigers and leopards and illegal trade of wildlife parts since

very long. They have strong linkages both at national and international levels

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with poachers of other wandering gangs, middlemen and buyers and earn huge

amount of financial gains out of poaching and illegal trade of tigers and leopards.

Earlier their main interest was in tiger poaching but it has been observed that,

they have lately been involved in poaching of leopards and otters also. It has also

been noticed that due to less degree of protection of wildlife specially in non

protected areas, the Bawaria gangs are indulged in killing of leopards and otters

in an organised manner. Keeping in view the increased sensitivity on tiger

protection and spreading knowledge of wandering gangs amongst the enforcing

agencies, the Bawaria gangs have started keeping their groups in smaller size,

comprising of 4-5 members, to remain unnoticed and undetected in the field.

Origin, Settlements and migrations: During interrogations they usually give

their addresses of places like Panipat, Sonipat, Samalkha, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur,

Baddi, Kalka, Dasna, Ghaziabad, Delhi, Kathua and Jammu etc.where they

usually have made their temporary settlements. However, it has been found that

they originally belong to regions of Rajasthan and mainly settled at Hanuman

Basti, near Railway Stations at Samalkha in Panipat district of Haryana. They are

also known as Samalkha Gangs. With due course of time they have spread their

movement in different parts of the country including Punjab, Himachal Pradesh,

Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Arunachal

Pradesh. However, in the recent past their presence and migration could be

noticed in the forest dominated landscapes of Western Ghats and South Indian

states like Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. There is sufficient

information about their frequent movements all along Indo-Nepal and Indo-

Bhutan borders.

Habits, attire and belief: Bawaria gangs adhere to nomadic lifestyle. They do not

easily mixed up with other civilized groups of the society and keep bondage with

other migratory communities. The men in the Bawaria community usually wear

kurta/kameez with pajama or pant whereas ladies prefer to wear traditional

costumes of Rajasthan and Haryana or sometimes salwar and kameez. The young

generation men have started wearing shirts and pants and girls have salwaar

kurta as their first choice. The women wear gold and silver ornaments in ear,

nose, neck, wrist and ankles. Their hands are tattooed either with their names or

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the names of their spouse, which is a very important sign in identifying their

names and relationships.

The Bawarias are Hindus by religion and speak Hindi. They are poorly

literate and do not give much importance to education. They have been found

having basic knowledge of reading and writing. However they always possess

small diaries having important phone numbers and contact details of the people

of their concern. Their diaries have also been found to contain full of entries

relating to their financial transactions and deals made. These diaries have always

been an immense source of information for the enforcement agencies in their

identification and understanding the linkages and networks involved with them.

In one of the diaries the phone numbers of Sansar Chand a notorious accused of

various tiger and leopard poaching and illegal trade, were found in Katerniaghat

tiger case.

They have their rituals and fairs for which they periodically return to their

place of habitation. Holi is an important festival for them. It has been observed

that they carry brass statues of Hindu deities in an aluminium box with them. It

has also been observed that after each killing of a tiger or leopard they prefer to

worship their deities and offer sacrifice of live animals. They also throw feast for

fellow community members after coming back from poaching or successful

transactions.

The member of Bawaria gangs follow married life and migrate along with

family members sometime including their parents and siblings. In some of the

cases the whole family has been found involved in the profession of poaching and

illegal trade of wildlife derivatives. A very peculiar and distinct division of labour

has also been noticed in their working. The elderly people usually sell plastic

flowers, moulded statues, plastic toys or other such articles to avoid being

noticed, the children usually gather information of the area by visiting day-in &

day-out; young males of the family visit forests areas and kill tigers and leopards

by laying iron traps during night time, whereas females of the family cook food

and perform the duty of carriers.

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Linkages and their Movements: The Bawaria poachers keep in touch with local

nomads like Nat, Kanjar, Bahelia, Patharkatwa, Mahtomangta, Kalbelia, Mev,

Pardhi, Banjara, etc. and get the local support and information regarding the

movement of the animals particularly of tigers and leopards from them. In the

recent past the linkages of Bawarias and local poachers like Kanjars, Gujjar,

Sapera and Ghiaras in Uttarakhand area has also been established (R.C. No. 13/

2008-2009/ Fatehpru Range/Ramnagar Division/ Uttarakhand, 2009). The

information collected suggests that the Bawaria poachers of Dasna (Ghaziabad,

Uttar Pradesh), Samalakha and Pinjore (Haryana) regularly visit North East India

for poaching of tigers, leopards and otters. During 2009-10 especially while

working out the Nagpur case jointly with CBI it was observed that Nagpur-

Chandrapur in Mahrashtra became hub in Central India for poaching, collection,

transaction and transit of the tiger and other wildlife parts. Both the Bawaria and

Pardhi gangs worked together and poached many tigers and leopards in Madhya

Pradesh and Mahrashtra.

The Bawaria gangs are directly linked to the international markets of

Darchula, Mahendranagar, Nepalganj, Belahiya, Birganj, Kakarbhitta in Nepal.

They use Indo-Nepal borders at Dharchula and Banbasa in Uttarakhand,

Tatarganj, Dhangadi, Katerniaghat, Rupaidiha, Sonauli in Uttar Pradesh, Raxaul

in Bihar, Panitanki in West Bengal to cross over international border. They have

linkages with the locals both in India and Nepal for shelters and facilitation in

illegal cross border trade of tiger and leopard skins and bones. In the recent past

two more important exit routes directly to China through Kaza (Himachal

Pradesh) and Nayoma (Ladakh, J&K) have also come into light. Some time they

use Dharchula and Nathula borders to sell their wildlife parts and products

directly to Chinese middlemen and traders.

In one of the important cases worked out on the intelligence provided by

the WCCB, the Bawaria poachers were arrested in Dibang Wildlife Sancturay

near Anini (Roeing, Arunachal Pradesh) with 8 otter skins in 2011, which proves

their movement and strong linkages in the North East Indian territories bordering

China, Nepal and Bhutan (Roeing Corresponent, 2011). There has also been

information of arrests of the Bawaria poachers in Bhutan during 2004-2005 in

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cases related to tiger poaching and illegal trade. They have also been arrested in

Nepal by Nepalese enforcement agencies in wildlife cases (Hindustan Times,

2006). As per record they have been having close links with big players like

Sansar Chand and his associates and other similar traders and buyers in India

(Pandey, 2009).

Modus operandi: It has been found that they mostly sell plastic flowers, moulded

statues, assembled decorative items, herbal medicines, plastic toys, etc. There is

information that they have also been begging in trains and buses by distributing

pamphlets and claiming themselves poor and devastated in natural calamities. In

Katerinaighat tiger case of 2006, such pamphlets published in Tamil and English

were found during the interrogation of a Bawaria gang members, who accepted

the usage of those pamphlets to hide their identities while staying at Polachi

(Tamil Nadu) for a long time.

Before poaching they search out the potential areas and make a fair study of

the region by staying as nomads in small deras preferably settled temporarily in

remote and abandoned areas including railway yards.“They carry a tawa, a thali

and a lota. The tawa is used for cooking vegetables like potatoes, onions and

tomatoes, and for making chapattis, the thali is used for kneading dough and

eating and the lota serves several purposes. To cook their meals, they make a

makeshift chulha by placing two bricks” (Bisht, 2010).

These poachers keep in touch with local nomads like Nat, Kanjar,

Bahelia, Patarkatwa, Mahtomangta, Kalbelia, Banjara, Pardhi, Mev, Gujjar,

Sapera etc. and get the local support and information regarding the movement of

the wild animals particularly of tigers and leopards in the area. They prefer to be

looked like a common man standing on railway stations, bus stands doing normal

activities during day time and prefer to go for a rampage in the dark. They take

special care of not being noticed by the police or other enforcement authorities.

There are several methods for trapping wild animals that are being used

by the poachers but Bawarias specifically go for iron traps which are locally

called as kudka, khatka, phanda, khadaka etc. The iron traps usually capture tiger

or leopard alive. Their leg gets trapped and the wild cats fixed up there only.

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During Gurgaon tiger case in 2009, it has been observed that they have started

using dismantled iron traps during transportation to avoid its identification and

detection by the enforcing agencies specially the police. The Bawaria poachers

are masters in using iron trap. The iron trap is made up of a horizontal circular

base ring tied with iron chain. The iron chain is tied with a wooden piece at end.

The horizontal circular iron base is mounted with two semi circular iron rings

vertically attached to it which functions as two arms of the trap with support of

two inverted „v‟ shaped solid plate springs. The iron trap is laid on the bridle path

by digging a hole and putting the iron chain deep into it for securely binding the

trap to the ground. There are informations that they even distribute iron traps to

local nomads and villagers residing in and around forest to kill animals.

Before killing they survey the tracks and trails of the tigers and then they

lay the traps, most of the times more than one in a series at evening time and sit

in the jungle nearby to wait and watch the trapping of the animal. They kill the

captured animal by hitting with lathi on the head. Bheema Bawaria the main

accused in Gurgaon tiger case revealed the capturing and killing of the tigers in

Kaudia range of Nazibabad Forest Division of Uttar Pradesh when he was taken

by WCCB and Haryana police to the spot of killing of tigers. As per other

corroborative evidences and observations made they use small knives to de-skin

the tigers and choppers to remove the bones from the body muscle. They are

highly expert in skinning and removal of bones of dead tigers. They bury or hide

the carcass and try not to leave any evidence visible at the scene of crime.

They prefer moon lit nights to trap and kill the animals with ease. If the

animal is not captured in the night they remove the traps before sunrise and next

day they follow the same procedure unless and until the tiger is finally trapped.

To capture the leopard is not so easy as compared to tigers due to which they

usually distribute the iron traps to local nomads and they only play the role of

carriers and sometimes as the middlemen in illegal trade of leopards. A case

study relating to involvement of Bawaria poachers along Indo-Nepal international

border is given below.

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Case history (Range Case No. 26/2004-2005/ Katerniaghat Range): In January

2005, two women namely Shanti Devi (55) W/o Late Chandia R/o Nal, Bikaner

District, Rajasthan and her daughter Roshini (25) W/o Late Sultania R/o Nal,

Bikaner District, Rajasthan were arrested with tiger skeleton and skin at Bichhiya

railway station in Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary area (R.C.No. 26/2004-

2005/Katerniaghat range/ Katerniaghat Division/ Uttar Pradesh, 2005). It was

during a regular check of bus stands and railway stations within the area of

Katerniaghat Sanctuary (Bahraich, UP) by the forest staff that the two women

were caught. The staff members spotted these women with three (3) kids and lots

of daily use articles along with a big black coloured poly bags. The appearance of

the women was conspicuous. When staff enquired regarding their arrival and

their future movements, the women told they were coming from Nepal and were

leaving to Palia (Lakhimpur District, UP). When their poly bags were checked by

staff, bones were found, which according to them was of domesticated pig. On

suspicion, staff brought them to the Katerniaghat range office and their

belongings were thoroughly checked. The forest officials found them carrying

41,280 INR mostly 500 currency notes, with some Nepali currencies. Later, it

was found that the skin and bones being carried by them were of a tiger.

On the basis of the interrogation by the Investigating Officer (IO) the

complaint in the case was filed in the CJM Court Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh with 60

days (Division Case No. 320/2004-2005/Katerniaghat Division/ Uttar Pradesh,

2005). However, the accused did not try to bail them out from the judicial

custody and suddenly after nine months pleaded guilty and confessed their crime

and before the court. The court convicted them for the period spent in the custody

(Court Case No. 2814/05 /Dated 20.04.05/ Court Order, 2005).

After the release of convicts in the case, their activities were kept under

watch and their movements were constantly followed. Finally, one of the convicts

of the case revealed the information and movement of other Bawaria gang

members in vengeance, as a result the nine (9) accused in the case were arrested

within a period of 24 hours, of them four were Bawaria poachers and other four

were Kanjars whereas one accused was a local villager who had given them

shelter and ration for making food. During interrogation of arrested nine (9)

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accused vital information regarding movement, linkages and modus operandi of

the Bawaria gangs in association with local nomad communities and villagers

were collected. Subsequently supplementary complaint against the nine accused

was filed in the same case within 60 days. Like the previous Bawaria women the

four arrested Bawaria men did not take any attempt to bail them out of the

custody and after around six (6) months time suddenly confessed the crime and

pleaded guilty before the court got convicted for the period spent in the jail. It

indicated the strong links of Bawaria poachers with middle men and traders who

can influence the legal proceedings in such cases.

Subsequently, in this case the Forest Department filed a revision petition

in the Sessions Court as the conviction made by the concerned court was lesser

than the minimum punishment prescribed under section 51 of Wildlife (P) Act,

1972 for such offences (Criminal Revision Petition No. 677/05, order dated

14.11.05, 2005). However, once the Bawaira convicts got out of confinement it

was never possible to serve them the court notices or summons or to bring them

back behind the bars.

It is interesting to mention that the crime records relating to Bawaria

gangs were searched in adjoining Forest Division and it was a great surprise to

find more than 20 years case of tiger in the name of same accused in Dudhwa

Tiger Reserve. This criminal history of the accused Shanti W/o Late Chandia

whose actual name was found to be „Dilipo‟ established the fact of involvement

of Bawaria poachers in a tiger poaching in Terai region of India since long back.

Interestingly the accused was wanted in the tiger case of 1992 by officials of

Dudhwa National Park and Pilibhit Forest Division. This case of Katerniaghat

helped the accused to be brought under criminal trial (R.C.No. 57/31/1991-

1992/Sampurna Nagar Range/Dudhwa National Park/Uttar Pradesh, 1992).

Further interrogations and information revealed the fact that Bawaria

gangs were operative in the India Terai for almost four decades in Pilibhit-

Lakhimpur-Bahraich area, Uttar Pradesh and across Indo-Neapal international

border. The case also established the fact that it is not easy to extract real

information and facts of the cases from Bawaria poachers especially when they

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are nabbed under a case. Being traditional in poaching, they are thorough

professional in tiger killing by using iron traps. They intelligently use legal

documents like notary certificates, fake Identity cards, Inner line passes etc, for

misleading their identity. Even after her arrest and conviction in Katerniaghat

2005 case, the main accuse Shanti alias Dilipo was found involved in Kishanpur

Sanctuary tiger poaching case under Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. Consistent efforts

were made to keep her behind bars and get her convicted in both the Pilibhit and

Kishanpur cases. Finally after lot of legal pursuance she got convicted in both the

cases for rigorous imprisonment for five years and fine (Wildlife Trust of India-

Archives, 2011).

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and Bawaria gangs: The Government

of India, Ministry Of Environment And Forests has constituted the Wildlife

Crime Control Bureau under section 38Y of the Wildlife (P) Act, 1972 to combat

wildlife crime and illegal trade of wild animals‟ parts and products. During 2008-

2012 many alerts related to movement of Bawaria poachers were disseminated to

all concerned enforcement agencies to keep eye on them. Some important

advisories were also sent through National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)

to all the Chief Wildlife Wardens and Directors of Tiger Reserves in the country

to keep vigil on the movements of wandering gangs.

During 2009-2010 while working at WCCB three major tiger cases were

jointly worked out with enforcing agencies including CBI in a row. In all these

three cases the involvement of Bawaria poachers were recorded. All these three

cases were worked out between 1st August and 23

rd November 2009. Three

distinct modules were first delineated and then strategically busted one by one

with the help of three different enforcement agencies namely Forest Department

Uttar Pradesh, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Haryana Police. The

interrogation carried out and information collected in these three cases made

possible to understand deeply the forward and backward linkages involved in the

tiger poaching and cross border illegal trade of tiger skins and bones in the

country. In CBI-WCCB Nagpur-Delhi case, the whole module right from

poachers to trader was busted in an exemplary manner. The poachers and traders

were arrested simultaneously from two different places and their associated were

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also nabbed on the same day. The graphical depiction of three major tiger

poaching and trafficking viz. (i) Mahrajganj, Uttar Pradesh (ii) Nagpur-Delhi and

(iii) Gurgaon has been summarised in figure 2 below.

Figure-2: Tiger cases worked out with various agencies between from 1st August

to 23rd

November 2009

The network of Mahrajganj tiger Case was found spread in Kathmandu

(Nepal)-Maharajganj (UP)-New Delhi-Haryana-Nagpur-Madhya Pradesh and

Uttarakhand. The backward linkages in the Nagpur-Delhi tiger case started with

Chandrapur-Nagpur (Maharastra) to Delhi and have forward linkages in Haryana,

Delhi and Nepal. The Gurgaon tiger case revealed the infestation of Bawaria

poachers in Dehradun-Haridwar-Laldhang-Najibabad-Kotdwar landscape. The

accused in these cases were invariably taken on police or forest custody and could

be taken to the spot where tiger was poached or the transactions were made. As a

result vital information regarding organised poaching by members of Bawaria gang

their nexus with international buyers could be understood. In all the three cases

complaints were filed within 60 days time. In Maharajganj case the bail of the

accused got rejected from High Court (Uttar Pradesh) and Chief Judicial Magistrate

16 | P a g e

court convicted the accused for five years imprisonment and fine. The rest two

cases are still under trial.

CONCLUSION

It is evident that poaching of tigers and leopards in the country is being

done by organised criminals with the involvement of wandering gangs specially

Bawaria poachers. It is matter of concern how the Bawaria gangs have spread

their roots in almost all part of the country. The north and central Indian tiger

landscapes are highly infested by movement and presence of Bawaria gangs for

the poaching of tigers in particular. The more disturbing fact is that the Bawaria

gangs have now developed strong nexus with Pardhis of Central India and this

combination is very much dangerous keeping in view the direct forward linkages

of Bawarias to international middle men and buyers. The Nagpur-Delhi (WCCB-

CBI) case is the best examples of the involvement of both the Bawaria and Pardhi

poachers in tiger killing and illegal trade of tiger parts in connivance of foreign

buyers.

It is also confirmed that the members of Bawaria gangs are habitual

offenders and commit repeated crime of killing tigers and leopards. However,

the identification of these criminals in and around wildlife rich natural landscapes

has been real challenge for the enforcement agencies including forest

departments. An extensive data base of members of wandering gangs including

Bawaria poachers along with their photographs, family tree, criminal history and

related wildlife cases etc. must be prepared by both central and state government

enforcement agencies for intelligence based enforcement and successful trial of

the cases.

There is lack of information about the wandering gangs specially Bawaria

poachers of North India amongst field formations across the country. Although

the government agencies have began to disseminate information regarding

wandering gangs to all concerned, however the percolation of same has yet to

reach at grass root level staff. More and more training and awareness programme

for the field officials must be organised by all the concerned agencies. The

nongovernmental organisations are also organising trainings to the field

17 | P a g e

formations, but all these programmes are insufficient keeping in view the size of

the country. It has also been observed that there is an urgent need to sensitise

judiciary in dealing cases of wandering gangs and understanding wildlife trade

dynamics and international ramifications involved in such cases.

Recommendations and Suggestions: The information gathered about Bawaria

gangs and their activities are to be transferred to the different concerned Forest

Departments of the country for taking all possible preventive and precautionary

measures to avoid poaching of tigers and leopards. The Frontline Staff are to be

trained in order to understand the use of iron traps and modus operandi adopted

by the Bawaria poachers and other wandering gangs. Intensive foot patrolling

should equally be done in the protected areas and wildlife rich non protected

areas. The bordering areas of states and districts overlapping with national parks

and sanctuaries must keep an eye on temporary settlements on follow lands,

railway yards and near bus stations etc. The exit point enforcement agencies at

Indo-Nepal and Indo-China borders should regularly be made aware regarding

activities of Bawaria and other wandering gangs to keep strict watch on their

trans-boundary movements. The railway stations and bus stands near protected

areas should be regularly and properly checked by the forest department to avoid

the local trade in wild animals and their articles. The central and state agencies

must keep watch on the movement of wandering gangs and timely dissemination

of the intelligence along with the credentials of the gangs must be passed on to all

the concerned. The old cases of tigers and leopard poaching must be monitored

and followed up to get accused convicted on priority.

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