Wildlife criminals arrested - Mizoram Observer

Two women, one of them under the scanner of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, were sent to Mizoram-Assam border Kolasib district jail on Wednesday evening after being arrested for allegedly involving in smuggling of pangolin scales.

Lalzuithangi (41), resident of Myanmar border Champhai town and Vanlalzawni (42) of Zemabawk neighbourhood in Aizawl were arrested from Shillong in Meghalaya by Range Officers of Kolasib and Vairengte and their staffs on March 14 and brought to Kolasib on March 16, Divisional Forest Officer(DFO) of Kolasib district Margaret Lalramchhani said on Thursday.

“The arrested persons were kept in the custody of the Environment, Forests and Climate Change department at Kolasib for 96 hours, after which a local court remanded them to judicial custody at the district jail,” Lalramchhani said.

According to the DFO, Lalzuithangi is wanted by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Government of India and has collected sufficient evidences to arrest her. Almost all the poachers and middlemen involved in the wildlife smuggling have been arrested by the Bureau while the investigation on the links with Myanmar-based syndicate has been on.

Lalzuithangi’s nexus with Rindiki Teronpi ofKarbi Anglong, Assam, now being incarcerated at Guwahati jail, in smuggling of skin and bone of tigers as well as pangolin scales has been established, the DFO said.

Officials of Assam border Vairengte Forest Range Office and Excise and Narcotics seized 98 kilos of pangolin scales on March 5 from a maxi-cab plying between Shillong and Aizawl and arrested Laldaniela of Happy Valley, Shillong who was driving the cab without any passenger.

Further investigation into the smuggling of the seized pangolin scales resulted in the arrest of the two women involved in the international wildlife smuggling racket.

Laldaniela held that he agreed to carry the package of pangolin scales as the maxi-cab counter at Happy Valley asked him to do so saying it was a package containing smoked pork to be delivered to a maxi-cab counter in Aizawl.