What began with the nabbing of four men, on July 23, on the Gwalior-Agra highway carrying 10 leopards’ skins, has since brought a high-profile wildlife NGO into the scanner. The NGO in question is Wildlife SOS, and the killings of the 10 leopards were traced back to Madhya Pradesh.
The state’s forest department has claimed two men — Bhagwan Singh and Wasim Akram — who were linked to the NGO had provided metal traps to the poachers, who killed the leopards for their skin. Wildlife SOS has refused the allegation.
The investigation
The leopards were hunted in Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno, Sheopur and Morena forest divisions, news websites reported, citing officials.
Kuno is also the site of the ambitious Project Cheetah, under which African cheetahs were reintroduced in India. The project is under the watch of the very top — the Prime Minister’s Office — and the killing of a cheetah in the region could have brought severe ramifications.
Case, so far
In its order issued on September 7, the Madhya Pradesh High Court withdrew legal protection for Wildlife SOS co-founder and CEO Kartick Satyanarayan. It ruled that he failed to cooperate with the investigation into the alleged poaching, and ordered Satyanarayan to appear before the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department’s State Tiger Strike Force on September 21.
Wildlife SOS, meanwhile, has said it would comply with the court’s order but has outlined concerns regarding the investigation.
"Wildlife SOS was compelled to seek protection in view of the concerns it has regarding the manner in which the investigation has been conducted by the STSF, which has already taken our colleague Wasim Akram into custody. Despite repeated requests through official and legal channels, a copy of the Forest Offence Report (FOR) is yet to be provided,” a Wildlife SOS spokesperson said.
"We are confident the investigation and the hearings before the Court will establish Mr Satyanarayan's innocence and expose those behind this campaign to vilify Wildlife SOS,” its legal spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, Geeta Seshamani, co-founder and secretary of Wildlife SOS, added: "In the four weeks since Wasim's detention, we have watched these developments with concern. We remain hopeful that the investigation will proceed fairly and transparently, and that the FOR and details of the charges will be shared through the appropriate legal channels.”
