Nagpur trader held with antlers, international cartel suspected

Three years after the Government imposed a ban, the multi-crore antler trade, of which Nagpur was once the infamous nerve centre...

Three years after the Government imposed a ban, the multi-crore antler trade, of which Nagpur was once the infamous nerve centre, is back in the news with the seizure of 12 antlers from the vehicle of a local trader. With at least five of the seized antlers suspected to be of a non-Indian deer species, there is growing suspicion that an international wildlife cartel could be operating in central India.

“Five of the antlers are definitely not of the Indian variety. They are most likely to be of the fallow dear, found mainly in Europe and America. Others are that of spotted deer and sambhar,” sources told The Indian Express. “This could also indicate a cartel smuggling wildlife parts from Indian zoos,” sources in the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) said.

The trader, Prakash Khemka (43), from a rich business family in the city, is now cooling his heels in jail along with driver Ishwar Jagannath Raut. “Khemka claimed he had documents to justify the possession. But he hasn’t shown us any till now,” said Police Inspector U M Chandel of the Yashodhara Nagar police station. Khemka family owns Bharat Impex, a company which, along with two other companies K K Traders and Bio-Gini International, were dragged to Supreme Court by WPSI for illegal antler trade.

“According to the driver, the antlers were taken from Khemka’s shop to Kamptee town and the vehicle was returning when it was intercepted,” Chandel said. The suspects haven’t revealed why the antlers were taken to Kamptee. Incidentally, when Nagpur was the antler products manufacturing hub, Kamptee used to be the centre of the trade. Khemka and his driver have been booked for hunting protected animals, theft of government property and trafficking banned wildlife items.

Meanwhile, the Forest Department is keen to do its own investigation. “It’s forest property. Khemka had no permit to import or transport the antlers. We will try and take it over from the police, if required, through court,” said D V Jiddewar, Assistant Conservator of Forest (Anti-poaching).