Principal Secretary Forest chairs Inter Agency workshop on Wildlife Crime

JAMMU, February 17: Principal Secretary Forest, Ecology and Environment,. Dheeraj Gupta, today chaired a workshop on wildlife crime.

The workshop, organized by the Department of Wildlife Protection at Convention Centre here, was attended by various stakeholder departments including Police, Customs, Crime Branch, Forest Protection Force, Forest Territorial and Wildlife Protection Department.

Principal Secretary, in his address, laid stress on stronger coordination among stakeholder agencies while mentioning that protection of environment and wildlife is our constitutional duty. He exhorted upon the frontline field participants to prepare complete cases so that culprits involved in wildlife crime and illegal trade of wildlife contraband are punished by competent courts under law. He emphasized on laying credible network, use of technology and intelligence gathering to effectively combat the menace.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests &HoFF, Dr. Mohit Gera, mentioned about unique biodiversity of India and Jammu & Kashmir. He called upon the participants for proper comprehension of legal framework with respect to investigation and case framing pertaining wildlife and forest crimes. He also advised to make best use of Forest Check Posts and Joint Control Rooms.

Earlier, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife)/ Chief Wildlife Warden, Suresh Kumar Gupta, highlighted the objectives and scope of the workshop. He presented wildlife crime scenario in the country viz-a-viz situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

Regional Wildlife Warden, Jammu, Dr. Kumar MK, conducted the workshop and presented vote of thanks.

The participants included officers of the rank of Inspector and above from stakeholder departments. Besides, resource persons for the workshop were experts from Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Government of India.