Sansar Chand revealed Tibet, Nepal links: CBI

Chand was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 30, 2005. His interrogation revealed the network and the route of the international wildlife trade.

CBI officials say Chand has listed sales of thousands of skins to at least four Nepalese buyers. ‘‘My Nepalese clients would order on telephone and there was never any problem in supply when they came to Delhi,’’ Chand has confessed.

Chand allegedly said he stored the skins in cloth or leather godowns in the Delhi’s Walled City. They’d be smuggled through the Indo-Nepal border inside false cavities of buses or hidden inside consignments of readymade garments.

One of Chand’s clients, Tashi Tshering alias Chhewang, was arrested in Kathmandu in December.

CBI officials say they are obtaining permission to either question Chhewang in Kathmandu or obtain his interrogation report.

Chand had been questioned over 10 days by CBI. The four Nepalese buyers who figure in his admissions includes:

• Tsering Tamang: Allegedly bought 300 tiger skins, 2,000 leopard skins, 6,000 fox skins and 4,000 cat skins from Chand.

• Tashi Tshering: Arrested. Chand claimed to have sold 20 tiger skins, 60 leopard skins and 100 otter skins to him.

• Pema Limi: One of Chand’s ‘‘biggest clients’’ since early ’90s. Bought 50 tiger skins and 350 otter skins.

• Tenzing Lama: Allegedly bought 100 tiger skins, 70 leopard skins and 100 otter skins.

CBI officials estimate that Chand controlled almost 50 per cent of the trade. From an estimated Rs 5,000 in the ’90s, he was getting Rs 60,000 for a tiger skin prior to his arrest.

According to Chand’s interrogation by the Rajasthan police, the traffic in animal skin is run by Kashmiri and Nepalese traders, for whom Chand has been a supplier since early ’80s.

Jaipur (North) SP Rajeev Sharma said Chand has named several persons. “We have passed on the information to the CBI.”

Chand’s first major clients were several Kashmiris in handicrafts business. He has named a few, including a prominent handicrafts exporter based in New Delhi. Later, the entry of Nepalese buyers edged out the Kashmiris, he had said.