He is currently out on bail. The arrangement was clearly a happy and mutually beneficial one. They also recounted proudly how when they brought back five kilos of tusks, despite the small amount and not taking a shortage of 100 grams into consideration, Babu paid them Rs 4000 per kg. So we had worked case by case and remanded all three in all poaching cases in Coimbatore. Forest authorities say that Ajit Bright has connections in Delhi, Mumbai and other metros of India as well as international connections through which he sells the ivory. He would lure the elephant away for a distance of 2-3 km to where Singam would be waiting. In 2014, in Kothagiri-Bhavani forests, in two instances, they took 30 kg and 4 kg of tusks each. “All this is due to the lethargy and inaction of the forest departments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Babu then drove them to the second hairpin bend on the Ooty road in his Maruti Omni van and dropped them off there with supplies.
As for Team Anbazhagan and Team Senrayan, their activities and whereabouts are unknown.
So Aruvi still remains an outsider of the project, despite his attempts to return to the initiative.
She said that she is aware that the family will be ruined if they continue with such activities.
Singam, Kubendran, Mani and Nagaiyya aka Nagu together hunted down one elephant and removed its tusks. In Tamil Nadu, they do not interrogate the poachers properly, they are more interested in closing cases. “When I was DFO Tiruppattur in 1994-95, we booked habitual offenders under Goondas Act,” said Dr S Balaji, former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests. Here are some of the more prominent arrests in the recent past.
Their first poaching attempt yielded them 10 kg of tusks.
Further in all six poaching cases we prepared charge sheets with confession statements of all three and handed over to Court. They had been caught for the first time. The story of these poachers has been gathered by The Lede from the authorities at the Tamil Nadu forest department, who have, over the years, questioned the duo. Worse, they are unaware as to whether poaching continues or not in the dense jungles of the Western Ghats. 4.
The search went on for days. Aruvi’s answer was simple and thought-provoking. Since 2012 there is no poaching in the Coimbatore Forest Division.
Kubendran would run circles around the elephant and anger the elephant. Both of them roamed around the forest area for three days to find out where the elephants were, where forest officials were present and noted down timings of their rounds. But fate was to set different rules for Singam, 42 and Kubendran, 44, both relatives and ace hunters. These include 665 bolt action rifles, 1125 Glock 17 pistols, one single bore rifle and two tranquiliser guns. But in October 2019, all three were released on bail. Unless prosecution takes place in a short time, these cases will be taken lightly,” said Dr Balaji.
One person was Vasanthakumar from Porur and the other Rajkumar from Thirukkazhukundram. Kubendran introduced Singam to Babu and said that they would both do the task,” said Forest Ranger E Selvaraj, Mettupalayam range, who opened up about this extraordinary story to The Lede. The first hunt took place in the forests of Theni in 2010 itself. Seventeen years have gone since Vidiyal was formed and it gave new meaning and newer dimensions to our lives.
The now-celebrated participatory forest management initiative, involving traditional forest dwellers and local indigenous communities, was at that time only at the ideation stage at the national level. “It was indeed a new dawn in our lives which were hitherto trapped between illegal activities and long jail terms. But the arrested poachers quickly got bail and slipped out to continue their hunt. With a 12-page confession from Babu, the three conspirators were remanded and sent to jail in a case filed for poaching in the Mettupalayam forest range.
Another 9 kg was taken from Kallaru area. The elephant hunters Singam and Kubendran are the most notorious of them all. 2. More than the poachers, the people who buy the tusks should be dealth with severely and legislation like the Goondas Act should be invoked against them, because they are the ones who create the demand” he said. They then returned home to Theni. It was difficult for them to believe that the cases against them would be dropped. Aruvi was the leader of a 23-member team of wildlife poachers and sandalwood smugglers operating from K.G.
Of the total known amount of 375 kg of tusks, Singam and Kubendran alone have been responsible for a haul of 300 kg. From the Coimbatore bus stand, they arrived in Mettupalayam by evening. Whenever we read them, we would find articles about elephants entering human habitations in Mettupalayam, elephants destroying crops in Nilgiris and elephants causing havoc in Coimbatore. Once home they contacted Babu and told him they needed equipment for the hunt. Both of them roamed around the forest area for three days to find out where the elephants were, where forest officials were present and noted down timings of their rounds. In 2010, a group of men belonging to a hunting tribe in Varusanadu, Theni were idling away their time, hunting small game on the edges of the forests, as their forefathers did. Singam and Kubendran though stuck on together. Tamil Nadu Forest Department is also not conducting proper checks in the forests to stop poaching. He stated that he did not know to whom Ajit Bright sold the tusks,” said Forest Ranger Selvaraj. Since then the whereabouts of this group is unknown. They also engage in night-time patrolling and special anti-poacher activities. The third time, we noted his vehicle number and arrested Babu Jose. According to Pramod G. Krishnan, the project would not re-admit anyone who engages in any kind of criminal activity. The elephant would follow Kubendran in an attempt to chase him away. Photo by Rahana Habeeb. In 2010, Singam and Kubendran were whiling away time in their village in Varusanadu, when they were contacted by one Jose, a dealer in ivory. Seventeen years have gone since Vidiyal was formed and it gave new meaning and newer dimensions to our lives. But fate was to set different rules for Singam, 42 and Kubendran, 44, both relatives and ace hunters.
They were taught the importance of conservation. Nagaiyya subsequently passed away and the whereabouts of his team members are unknown. 1. Dr Balaji also suggested that a central government organisation – the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau – could be involved in cases like these, which have inter-state ramifications. Wildlife activist Mac Mohan told The Lede that there are many kingpins in the ivory trade, pretty much all of whom are roaming around scot-free. They knew every nook and cranny of the remote forest stretches and the officials who land in the difficult geographical terrains of Idukki often faced difficulty in nabbing them,” said Francis, presently a divisional forest officer-in-charge of forest flying squad in Kochi. Tamil Nadu Forest Department is also not conducting proper checks in the forests to stop poaching. But there was no successful forest management scheme, involving the rehabilitation of former poachers and timber smugglers, anywhere in the country at the time.
Each of the 17 members of the Vidiyal team had three to twelve cases of poaching and timber smuggling pending against them while they were surrendering. Forest officials say they do not know if the poaching continues. Mohan also asked why the authorities had not yet uncovered where the 375 kg of tusks went in the past 10 years. Both of them headed straight to the Kallaru forest area and asked tribals living in the hills there where to find and how to tap mountain honey. How at least 60 elephants were poached relentlessly for 375 kilos of ivory in the past ten years; and how poachers got away scot-free.
They said these people will not change. 27 July 2019: Forest officials arrested elephant poacher Saravanan aka Kutti Veerappan in the reserved forest of Bargur, Krishnagiri. We managed to do this by 2019. 12 August 2017: Sasikumar, a native of Varusanadu was caught selling tusks and tiger nails at Madurai Arappalayam bus stand. The model has also been replicated in Manas National Park of Assam, where agitators for a separate Bodoland had caused severe danger to wild animals, mainly rhinos. In 2012, in two different hauls, 17 kg and 16 kg respectively of tusks were taken by them in Bhavani-Kallaru forest area. “The project has proved that no prison is required for reforms. In Tamil Nadu, they do not interrogate the poachers properly, they are more interested in closing cases.
In February 2015, they took 5 kg of tusks. Periyar Tiger Reserve. Authorities do not implement the law strictly,” he said. “Despite our best efforts, we were unable to file a chargesheet, and thanks to COVID-19, the courts were not functioning fully either, which went against us,” said Forest Ranger Selvaraj. “Loss of livelihood and criminal stigma attached to our clan by the officials over the years are forcing us to engage in such illegal activities.
COVID-19 shock waves: Taking stock of the Indian economy. Forest authorities say that Ajit Bright has connections in Delhi, Mumbai and other metros of India as well as international connections through which he sells the ivory. But experts say there are other ways to curb poaching. They went in the direction pointed out to them by the tribals. Their first poaching attempt yielded them 10 kg of tusks. Why Is TN Forest Department Unable To Catch Poachers? Dr Balaji also suggested that a central government organisation – the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau – could be involved in cases like these, which have inter-state ramifications. Forest officials say they do not know if the poaching continues.
Now there are postgraduates among the children of this group. And they, along with four other teams from Varusanadu, have taken at least 375 kilograms of tusks in the past ten years – meaning the massacre of around 60 elephants. The search went on for days. They were brought back to the Mettupalayam forest office. However, they say the Department has not responded to their alerts. He also stated that an official at the Chennai Port was selling such items. Upon questioning, details began tumbling out. In Tamil Nadu, they do not interrogate the poachers properly, they are more interested in closing cases. Ecologists have, three months ago, warned the state Forest Department that the elephant poachers were congregating during lockdown and preparing to kill the Schedule I animals again. But continued persuasion prompted the gang to surrender their guns and other tools. The Mettupalayam forest range is of 9152 hectares in area and borders the Sathyamangalam tiger sanctuary and Mudumalai tiger sanctuary. They had been caught for the first time. Despite having caught the poachers thrice and the intermediary Babu Jose once, Tamil Nadu Forest Department officials simply could not keep them in jail. Kubendran would run circles around the elephant and anger the elephant.
Incidentally, the Tamil world Vidiyal stands for “new dawn”. 15 September 2018: One Murugan, a resident of Broadway in Chennai was caught selling tusks in Adyar.