The Sins of a Skin Smuggler

This dismal state of affairs is best highlighted by the way Sansar Chand — believed to be one of Asia’s biggest skin smugglers — operates from the very heart of Delhi.

Both he and his brother, Rajkumar, have allegedly been involved in the lucrative trade for manyyears now. Other members of his family including his uncle, Prem Lal Topiwala, and brother-in-law, Kishan Lal, are also said to be actively involved. There are eight cases of animal skin and bones smuggling pending against Sansar Chand and at least two against Rajkumar.

Sansar Chand has been arrested nine times in Delhi and elsewhere and huge quantities of animal skins, including that of the tiger, leopard and panther recovered from him. Rajkumar is believed to have been working with him for about past 12 years. He was arrested by Delhi’s North district police on June 19 this year when he was visiting his brother. He had been arrested earlier as well, along with Kishan Lal, in 1993, with six leopard skins.

Out on bail, though he had been attending court hearings in Delhi regularly, Rajkumar was declared an absconder and a proclaimed offender by the chief judicial magistrate of Alwar in 1989. Rajkumar was one of the accused in a 1988 case when a tiger was found dead with a bullet wound in the Sariska TigerReserve, but he had managed to evade arrest.

“This clearly shows the lack of coordination among the various states in tackling wildlife crime,” observes Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), North Delhi district, Sachidanand Srivastava. While Rajasthan police had been looking for Rajkumar for 10 years, he was freely moving around in Delhi and even attending court hearings for the past five years. Unlike his elder brother Sansar Chand, Rajkumar is believed to be involved in poaching cases too — at Corbett Tiger Reserve and Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh, and Sariska in Rajasthan. He also has cases pending against him in Madhya Pradesh.

Ashok Kumar, Vice-President of the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) who is also an honorary wildlife warden, points out that traders generally do not indulge in poaching directly and leave it to the local villagers and tribals. “A person like Sansar Chand probably would not even have killed a fly in his life. He makes his millions by smuggling theskins,” says Kumar.

Kumar is absolutely right. Sansar Chand and his brother were in direct contact with illiterate poachers and hunters and acquired skins for a pittance. For example a tiger skin, which could fetch Sansar Chand around US $5,000 (Rs 2 lakh) in the international market, was bought from the poacher for Rs 2,000, or at the most for Rs 3,000 if the poacher was slightly worldly-wise. By the time, the same skin reached the capital, its price would have shot up to Rs 40,000-Rs 50,000.

Being in direct contact with the poachers increased Sansar Chand’s profit margins several times over. None of these transactions could be made without the connivance of the local police and the state wildlife officers. Sources said that Sansar Chand had a deeply entrenched network and continued to illegally trade in skins. This despite the claim by the police that it was maintaining a close vigil on his activities. Although he is known to have various houses and properties, he himself lives in a modest house in amiddle-class locality in Delhi.

“He has property worth crores of rupees in Delhi. He has some godowns in the Sadar area itself and a few in the vicinity of Bara Hindu Rao. He has rented some of them out, and uses the others to store the woollen garments which he ostensibly exports. It is in the garb of woollen exports that he also smuggles the animal skins,” discloses a police officer.

According to Ashok Kumar of the WPSI, the skins were usually first sent to Srinagar where they were converted into garments and accessories like coats, belts, gloves and caps. “It is easier in Jammu & Kashmir since the state is not governed by the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, but has its own Act, which is not as stringent,” says Kumar. The most significant difference between the two Acts is that the J&K legislation allows hunting and trade in many endangered species like the leopard, jackal and what are called the lesser cats, whereas hunting is completely prohibited as per the Wildlife Protection Act.

After theskins are made into various garments, they are either sold to tourists or smuggled into Nepal and other countries like Bangladesh and Tibet. However, ever since the tourist inflow into J&K has fallen, most of the items are smuggled out. Although there have been a number of seizures of skins being transported into J&K, many consignments clearly slip past.Once in Nepal, the items are openly displayed and sold, mostly by Kashmiris. “Till 1994, wildlife articles were on open display and sale in cities like Kathmandu, Patan, Pokhra and other towns in the plains. Coats and garments made from the skins of leopards, even the skins of the highly endangered snow leopard, can be procured here,” says Kumar. His organisation is now preparing a database on wildlife crime.

It is not just lack of coordination between states which is a problem, even within a particular state the authorities don’t seem to get their act together. While the power of seizure is with the wildlife and forest department, the lock-ups are withthe police. The forest department neither has lock-ups nor do its officials have the necessary skills to interrogate a criminal. This makes a mockery of both enforcement of the law and prosecution.

Home Base: DelhiGALI number Gyarah is a crowded lane in Delhi’s Sadar Bazar. Even in the sunniest of days, it is bereft of sunlight. It somehow seems the ideal location for Sansar Chand, Asia’s biggest skin smuggler. He is reported to have been a trader in leopard and tiger skin and bones for many years now.

Everybody in the area knows him. You ask for house number 1166, and people will look at you blankly because the numbering here is as haphazard as the meandering by-lanes that criss-cross it. But ask for Sansar Chand and you will get precise directions and probably a person to escort you!

Even the name of the lane — Gali number Gyarah — has a story linked with Sansar Chand’s family. The area was originally inhabited by the Giharas — tribals from Rajasthani. Sansar Chand’s family was one of them.This community was traditionally involved in taxidermy and the skin trade. The lane came to be known as the Giraha lane which later changed to Gyarah for the sake of convenience.

Over a period of time, the Girahas moved out or adopted other trades, especially since trading in skin was declared illegal. But for Sansar Chand and his kin, it was much too profitable a pursuit to give up. The demand for animal skins and furs had not decreased. If anything, the ban on hunting and trade in animal skins only ensured that there were more profits to be made. So what if the skin belonged to animals which have now become an endangered species. For people like Sansar Chand, this is only a minor obstacle.