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MUMBAI, Oct 31 -- Indian customs officers have arrested a plane passenger after discovering two endangered gibbons stuffed inside a checked bag, the latest animals seized from smugglers at Mumbai's airport. One of the tiny apes from Indonesia was dead, while the other, in a video shared by Indian Customs, was seen cradled in the arms of an officer, softly hooting before covering its face with its arm. Customs said the passenger, who had travelled from Malaysia via Thailand, was given the rare apes by a wildlife trafficking "syndicate" for delivery in India. Officers acting on "specific intelligence" arrested the passenger in Mumbai on Thursday. "A subsequent search of their checked baggage, a trolley bag, led to the discovery and seizure of two Silvery Gibbon (Hylobates moloch), one live and one found dead, which were concealed in a basket," the customs department said. Wildlife trade monitor TRAFFIC, which battles the smuggling of wild animals and plants, warned in June of a "very troubling" trend in trafficking driven by the exotic pet trade. More than 7,000 animals, dead and alive, have been seized along the Thailand-India air route in the last 3.5 years, it said. Home in the wild for the small Silvery Gibbon is the rainforests of Java in Indonesia. They are threatened by the loss of forests, hunting and the pet trade, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Estimates for the primates left range from about 2,500 to 4,000. The seizure follows several recent smuggling busts at the same airport. Just a week earlier, customs officials said they had arrested another smuggler carrying snakes, tortoises and a raccoon. In June, Mumbai customs intercepted two passengers arriving from Thailand with dozens of venomous vipers and more than 100 other creatures, including lizards, sunbirds and tree-climbing possums, also arriving from Thailand. In February, customs officials at Mumbai airport stopped a smuggler with five Siamang Gibbons, an ape native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. -- AFP
Bhubaneswar: Nature lovers have a fresh reason to visit Nandankanan Zoological Park in Odisha's Bhubaneswar, as the famed wildlife sanctuary welcomed seven baby yellow anacondas into its reptilian fold on Sunday -- a rare and exciting addition that underscores the zoo's growing reputation as a haven for exotic species. The tiny hatchlings were born to a breeding pair of yellow anacondas brought to Nandankanan from the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust in Chennai in October 2019. With these new arrivals, the zoo now proudly houses a thriving family of 14 yellow anacondas -- two adult males, two adul ...Read More >
Based on data from the Noah's Ark National Biological Diversity Database, managed by the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Türkiye is home to 3 phytogeographical regions: Euro-Siberian, Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian. Acting as a natural bridge between Asia and Europe, Türkiye hosts a wide variety of ecosystems, including forests, mountains, steppes, wetlands, coastal, and marine areas, due to the rapid variation in ...Read More >
Bengaluru: Days after Russian woman Nina Kutina was taken into custody for living in a cave inside the forest near Gokarna with her two daughters, her ex-husband, an Israeli citizen, is demanding shared custody of their daughters."I just want to be able to see my daughters a few times a week and take care of them. My concern is that if they go to Russia now, it will be tougher to keep in touch with them. I wish they could stay in India," Goldstein said on Wednesday.Dror Goldstein, 38, who lives f ...Read More >
Mumbai: The Mumbai Airport Customs in six separate cases between September 12-15 have seized hydroponic weed worth Rs 49.16 crore, recovered 68 dead and alive exotic wildlife animals and seized foreign currency worth around Rs 16 lakh. Four Passengers Arrested in Narcotics Cases According to the Customs sources four cases were related to the recovery and seizure of hydroponic weed. In the first case, on the basis of specific intelligence, the Customs officers at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), Mumbai, intercepted one passenger arriving from Tashkent. During the ex ...Read More >
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has filed a chargesheet against YouTuber Siddharth Yadav alias Elvish Yadav, his friend and singer Rahul Yadav alias Fazilpuriya apart from two others, and charged them with money laundering in an alleged wildlife crime involving protected snakes and lizards, official sources said. The prosecution complaint was filed on October 13 before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Gurugram, Haryana. The court is yet to take cognisance of the chargesheet. Yadav (28), Fazilpuriya (35), a company named Sky Digital India Pvt. Ltd. and its di ...Read More >
Bhubaneswar: Zeenat, the three-year-old tigress from Maharashtra brought to Odisha's Similipal last year under translocation project, is believed to be pregnant after mating with a melanistic male tiger named T-12 Mahabal in May this year. If her pregnancy is confirmed, Zeenat would deliver cubs around August or September this year, said Prem Kumar Jha, Odisha's Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife). Love blossomed after Zeenat was released into the wild in April this year. She made the forests between Yamunagarh and Gudugudia in Similipal her new home. In May, she came across a r ...Read More >
Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], July 13 (ANI): In a unique initiative, the Research wing of the Uttarakhand Forest Department has initiated a program of reintroduction of rare and endangered plant species to their old natural habitat. Initially, the program has taken up 14 such plant species which are in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as endangered or critically endangered or in the list of threatened plant species of the State Biodiversity Board and later on, it will be extended to more such species. Sanjiv Chaturvedi, Chief Conservator of Forest (R ...Read More >
COIMBATORE: The air intelligence unit (AIU) of the customs department seized 3.155 kg of hydroponic weed from a woman passenger who arrived at the Coimbatore International Airport from Bangkok in Thailand via Singapore on a Scoot Airlines flight on Friday night. The AIU received a tip-off about smuggling of hydroponic weed (ganja grown in a water-based and nutrient-rich solution, instead of in soil) to Coimbatore International Airport. The Scoot Airlines flight landed here around 11.16 pm, and AIU officers began checking the baggage of the passengers.A woman passenger hailing from Kerala had s ...Read More >
New Delhi, Sep 15 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday said there was "no contravention of law" while accepting a clean chit given by its special investigation team to Vantara, the zoological rescue and rehabilitation centre in Gujarat's Jamnagar. A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and P B Varale took the SIT's report on record besides noting the probe team's satisfaction on the compliance and regulatory measures in Vantara. The top court on August 25 constituted a four-member SIT headed by a former apex court judge while hearing two PILs alleging irregularities against Vantara on the basis of r ...Read More >
New Delhi Oct 16 (UNI) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its chargesheet filed against YouTuber Elvish Yadav, rapper Rahul Yadav (Fazilpuria), a digital company, and its director has accused them of indulging in money laundering by generating money using income from videos that featured protected wildlife species like snakes and an iguana. The prosecution complaint, filed under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), states that the songs "32 BORE" on Fazilpuria's channel and a vlog on Elvish Yadav's channel depicted the protected animals, which is a scheduled offence under the Wild ...Read More >
The officials said that the seizures were made following the operations conducted on Monday and Tuesday. According to the Mumbai Customs officials, in one of the operation, a passenger, who had come from Bangkok, was apprehended with 11.922 kilograms of hydroponic marijuana, valued at about Rs 11.92 crore. In an another operation, Customs officials intercepted two passengers arriving from Hong Kong. During examination of their baggage, they recovered 7.864 kilograms of hydroponic weed, valued a ...Read More >
BENGALURU: The Headquarter Investigative Unit-II of Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in New Delhi has provisionally attached immovable properties of Rs 34.12 crore under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in a case related to the transnational gold smuggling and laundering of its proceeds by the popular Kannada actress Harshavardini Ranya alias Ranya Rao and her associates. The ED has provisionally attached four properties of equivalent value belonging to Rao. These include a residential house in Victoria Layout, a residential plot in Arkavathi Layout, industrial land in Tumakuru, ...Read More >
While on patrol last week looking for any tourists who might have gotten stuck in the landslide-prone forests in the southern Indian town of Gokarna, police inspector Sridhar S.R. spotted a statue of a Hindu deity peeking out through the lush green vegetation. Moving closer, he saw makeshift curtains made of red saris that obscured the entrance to a cave. When he looked in, he was surprised to find a woman and two young girls living inside. The discovery on July 9 in Karnataka State set off day ...Read More >
Customs officials in Kerala are conducting raids at multiple locations, including the residences of actors Prithviraj and Dulquer Salmaan, as part of "Operation Numkhor." The operation investigates alleged tax evasion involving luxury vehicles imported from Bhutan using fraudulent registrations. Authorities are examining vehicle documents and have detected approximately 15 violations related to this scheme. Residences of Malayalam stars Prithviraj Sukumaran (Thevara) and Dulquer Salmaan (Panampi ...Read More >
NEW DELHI - Indian customs officers in Mumbai said they have stopped a plane passenger arriving from Thailand with a wriggling cargo of live snakes, the third such seizure in June. "Customs officers... foiled yet another wildlife smuggling attempt, 16 live snakes... seized from a passenger returning from Thailand," said a customs officer at Mumbai's airport The passenger, who arrived on June 29, has been arrested, the customs agency said in a statement, with "further investigation underway". The live snakes included reptiles often sold in the pet trade, and were largely non-venomous, or wit ...Read More >
Lucknow: Enforcement Directorate's Lucknow unit filed prosecution complaint against YouTuber and Bigg Boss OTT season 2 winner Elvish Yadav and three others under Prevention of Money Laundering Act before a special court in Gurgaon. Court will take cognisance of charges, after which both accused will be summoned. ED also named Chandigarh-based company Sky Digital and its owner as a co-accused in the case.Rs 1 crore assets of Elvish Yadav and his aide Fazilpuria were attached. The duo had used liv ...Read More >
Mumbai Customs officers intercepted a Thane-based woman at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport for attempting to smuggle 154 exotic animals. Hidden inside plastic containers in her luggage, the haul included four baby anacondas, iguanas, bearded dragons, tortoises, turtles, lizards, and raccoons. This marks the first time in at least five years that baby anacondas, a foreign snake species, have been seized at Mumbai Airport. The seized species are protected under international law ...Read More >
Bengaluru gold smuggling bust: DRI seized 3.356 kg gold worth ₹5 crore at the airport and arrested five people. The racket used capsules and codes, with suspected insider links. Investigation is ongoing. Bengaluru: In a massive operation, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials have busted a major gold smuggling racket at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport (KIAL). They seized 3.356 kg of pure gold, valued at around ₹5 crore. A total of five people, including some Bangladeshi nationals, have been arrested in connection with the case. Add Asianet Newsable as a Preferred S ...Read More >
Indian customs officers in Mumbai said they have stopped a plane passenger arriving from Thailand with a wriggling cargo of live snakes, the third such seizure this month. "Customs officers... foiled yet another wildlife smuggling attempt, 16 live snakes... seized from passenger returning from Thailand," said customs officers in the airport in the Indian financial hub. The passenger, who arrived on Sunday, has been arrested, the customs agency said in a statement, with "further investigation un ...Read More >
Berhampur: Forest officials in Odisha's Ganjam district have rescued a two-month-old barking deer (Indian muntjac) from a house at Gunakhala village under Badagada forest range. The operation, carried out in the Ghumusar South forest division, also led to the seizure of two country-made guns, a knife, and explosives from the premises. After being rescued, the fawn was immediately shifted to the veterinary hospital at Sorada for treatment and will be released into the wild once declared fit, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Vipasha Parul said on Sunday. "We suspect the house owner is involved ...Read More >
Mumbai: Drugs, gold and other expensive or illegal items are often seized from passengers during inspection at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, the country's financial capital. However, this time, customs officials seized as many as 48 poisonous snakes and 5 turtles from a passenger. Even the security guards were alarmed when it came to light that the passenger had been found with poisonous snakes. The passenger concerned had been to Thailand and had taken a flight from Bangkok on his way to India. At Mumbai's airport, customs found 48 poisonous snakes and five tur ...Read More >
CHENNAI: Customs officials seized hydroponic ganja worth 9.5 crores in the Chennai airport and arrested three passengers in two seperate incidents on Thursday. The customs received a tip-off that ganja is being smuggled into the country from Thailand at midnight. Following that, the officers were monitoring the passengers closely and, on suspicion, intercepted a male passenger, native of a north Indian state, who had visited Thailand on a tourist visa. The officers found the passenger was evasive in his replies, and his baggage was taken for examination. During the search, the officers found ...Read More >
Guwahati: National Green Tribunal (NGT), in an interim order issued on Saturday, stayed the Assam govt's directive to divert 1,600 Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF) personnel to assist the police during the upcoming assembly elections.The govt order, issued by the special chief secretary, had instructed AFPF staff to report to the additional director general of police by April 3.A two-member NGT Eastern Zone bench, comprising judicial member Justice Arun Kumar Tyagi and expert member Ishwar Singh, issued the interim stay in response to a petition filed by advocate Gaurav Bansal.Conservation ...Read More >
New Delhi, Apr 6 (PTI) The Border Security Force (BSF) is studying the feasibility of releasing crocodiles and snakes in the "vulnerable" riverine gaps along the India-Bangladesh international border to curb illegal infiltration and cross-frontier crimes, officials said on Monday. The plan was discussed during a meeting at the force's headquarters in Delhi on February 9. Following this, field units along the 4,096-km front were asked to provide their opinion. According to data provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), about 856 km of this frontier remains unfenced, owing to difficult g ...Read More >
India has launched an investigation after an endangered tigress and her four cubs were found dead in a protected forest in the southern state of Karnataka, an official said Friday. State forest minister Eshwar Khandre said the "unnatural" deaths were "extremely tragic and distressing" and that an investigation team had been formed. Local media reports said forest officials suspected poisoning. The tigress had reportedly killed a cow days earlier, and poison may have been laced into the carcass ...Read More >
Bengaluru: For the two police constables, who entered a cave in the Ramathirtha forests, following a foot trail in the forest, it looked like a story directly from the Jungle Book. Some idols and flowers on them indicated that someone had made a cave temple, but when they went further inside, they encountered a four-year-old white girl, without any clothes on her body. Petrified by the sight, thinking that they had entered some haunted cave, the constables rushed back and informed the senior officers, who were waiting a few meters away from the cave. When the others rushed in, the girl was no ...Read More >
A young woman named Oleti Pushpa (22) was killed by her live-in partner Sheikh Shamma (22) in the Ambedkar Konaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, reported India Today. She was living with Sheikh for the past 6 months after she separated from her spouse. The incident took place in Siddhartha Nagar, B Savaram village of Rajolu mandal on 16th July. Shamma reportedly accused Pushpa of having affairs with other men. He forced her to engage in prostitution and frequently instigated fights with her when intoxicated. As per police, Shamma was addicted to ganja. On the fateful night, he against pressuri ...Read More >
Hyderabad: Hyderabad's Nehru Zoo Park (NZP) is set to welcome new attractions after several years, including a mandrill from Jamshedpur, Hoolock Gibbons from Nagaland, and Zebras from Gujarat. These animals are being brought to the zoo as part of an inter-zoo exchange program, which is likely to be completed in a period of a few months from now. As a part of the exchange, the NZP will send an African Lion to the Tata Zoological Park, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, in exchange for the Mandrill. The Mandrills, the world's largest Old World monkeys, are native to west central Africa, and are known for t ...Read More >
Mumbai, Feb 24 (PTI) The Customs Department seized hydroponic weed of more than Rs 23 crore from three passengers who arrived at the Mumbai airport from Bangkok, officials said on Tuesday. Acting on spot checks and Advance Passenger Information System profiling, the customs officials booked three cases. A total of 23.593 kilograms of hydroponic weed, valued at approximately Rs 23.593 crore in the illicit market, was recovered from three passengers. They were arrested under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, they said. In another case, the department reg ...Read More >
New Delhi, Jul 18 (PTI) The central drugs laboratories have found 55 samples manufactured by various firms in June to be "not of standard quality", health ministry officials said on Friday. Further, state drugs testing laboratories have identified 130 drugs samples as 'not of standard quality', they said. Also Read | Chhattisgarh: 6 Bodies of Naxals Recovered in Ongoing Encounter With Security Forces in Narayanpur. According to routine regulatory surveillance activity, the list of 'not of standard quality' and spurious drugs are being displayed on the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisa ...Read More >