Skin traders using women as conduits — Official

The skins and nails were found in the house in the Dhumanganj Mohalla and according to K.M. Thakur, the DFO of the Fatehpur district in which Khaga falls, the materials used for tanning were of excellent quality. “The skins, though old, are shining and looking quite fresh.” The police have arrested five men and a woman in this connection but the main culprits are, as usual, absconding.

According to Singh, the seizure of skins at Ghaziabad in December gave them the clue that the belt that stretched from Etawah to Allahabad is to be observed for heavy trafficking in skins of wild animals. In fact, on January 7 this year, ranger VP Tewary was killed while chasing a truck that sped past the barrier at Khaga. This cemented doubts of the authorities about the trafficking.

According to a source in the forest department, the Fatehpur Superindendent of Police was reportedly informed about the activities but since the persons involved were Muslims and the house was adjacent to the mosque, the police did not take any action during the Ramzan period. The delay caused them the ranger’s life.

It is believed that it is women who act as conduits. “They used to bring the skins from the forest areas to Khaga in baskets, hidden beneath the vegetables and fruit. And they would have been accompanied by someone from here in order to ensure the safe transaction,” Thakur said.

Since there is no large forest cover in the neighbouring region except for Ranipur in Chitrakoot, the authorities started looking at Madhya Pradesh as a possible source of supply. And two things pointed out to this MP angle: one of the absconding members of the racket works in MP and interrogation has revealed that the women who used to bring the skins spoke a different dialect and wore jewellery similar to that worn by the tribal women of MP.

The local villagers, who face a threat to their lives from these wild animals, are only too delighted to get rid of them. Singh said: “In places where the wild animals actually live, there is no sympathy for them. "The poachers use this dissatisfaction among villagers to their advantage.” The most vulnerable of these are tigers and leopards, living in unprotected forests.

The authorities rule out the possibility of Europe being the market for these products due to the awareness campaigns there. The nails are mainly sent to the South East Asian countries where traditional system of medicine is practised. And how much are these skins and nails worth? The chief wildlife warden said, “ Since they are banned articles here, their value is zero. They are sold in the black market. I would not attach any price tag to them,” he said.