The Hindu : Front Page : `Veerappan of North India' captured in Capital

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Friday, Jul 01, 2005

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`Veerappan of North India' captured in Capital

Staff Reporter

Top secret Delhi police operation over a month leads to hide-out near temple in Sadar Bazar area

NEW DELHI: Dubbed by a Rajasthan court as "the Veerappan of North India'', alleged poacher and wildlife products smuggler Sansar Chand was captured from his hide-out here on Thursday by the Delhi police. In the news recently in connection with the disappearance of tigers from the Sariska National Park in Rajasthan, he had allegedly been hiding in the Capital for the past nine months.

Announcing the arrest at a press conference, Delhi Police Commissioner K. K. Paul said several police teams initially conducted raids at various places in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal but the crucial lead came during a raid at Sadar Bazar in North Delhi about a month ago.

On Thursday, a Crime Branch team led by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Joy Tirkey, picked up Sansar Chand from his hide-out in West Delhi's Patel Nagar area.

"We conducted a raid at Bagichi Raghunathpur in Sadar Bazar as Sansar's relatives lived there. There we came across a bundle of newspaper clippings related to wildlife,'' said Dr. Tirkey. The police realised that Sansar was keeping a tab on developments in a legal case relating to his wife and elder son who were lodged in a Jaipur jail after their arrest in a wildlife case.

Following inquiries from several newspaper vendors, the police came to know that a newspaper vendor in West Patel Nagar had been delivering a number of Hindi newspapers -- including ``Rajasthan Patrika'' and "Dainik Bhaskar'' - daily to a beggar. They discovered that the beggar would leave the bundle at a temple in C Block and a boy would then take it to a nearby house. In a few days the police were able to confirm that Sansar was hiding in the accommodation with his second wife and two minor children. On Thursday, the police trailed the boy and entered Sansar's house and took him into custody.

During the entire period, the ACP and his team put on several disguises. The operation was kept "top secret" and even the three inspectors working under Dr. Tirkey had no idea who they were looking for.

Sansar Chand, who had earlier been convicted twice under the Wildlife Act, had been lodged at Ajmer Jail in 2004. He managed to procure a parole from the High Court and then went underground. Since then he had taken refuge here in Delhi and seldom moved out.

Wanted in several cases including some relating to huge recoveries of tiger skins, bones and snake skins over three decades, Sansar has been booked under Section 41.1 (when the police may arrest a person, wanted by the State in a cognisable offence, without warrant) of the Criminal Procedure Code. The Central Bureau of Investigation as well as the police authorities of other States like Rajasthan are also likely to seek Sansar's custody for further interrogation.

Our Special Correspondent in Jaipur adds:

The Rajasthan Government has hailed the arrest of Sansar Chand. "The arrest of Chand, accused of killing tigers in the State's Project Tiger sanctuary Sariska in Alwar district, is a breakthrough," said Forest and Environment Minister Laxminarain Dave.

"Sansar Chand can lead to the exposure of the rest of the gang involved in poaching of tigers,'' Mr. Dave, quick to take credit for the Delhi police operation, said in a statement. He said the State Government had tipped off the authorities in Delhi about Chand's accomplices after carrying out a special drive to identify the tribes involved in poaching.

The Minister said the State Government's efforts received a fillip when Balya, belonging to the Bavaria community, landed in the police net. "Balya admitted his involvement in poaching 10 tigers in Sariska from 2001 to 2004. From his confessions Juhoor and Heera were also arrested. Heera used to buy animal skins to sell them to Sansar Chand."

Mr. Dave said the Rajasthan police had provided leads to their counterparts in Delhi on May 21 on the whereabouts of Sansar Chand and his accomplices like Jeevan Das and Surta after arresting Chand's wife Rani Gihara and son Akash.

The Minister also did not miss the opportunity to point out that Rani Gihara was general secretary of the SC-ST women's cell of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee.

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