Notorious wildlife poacher Sansar Chand dead

Notorious wildlife poacher Sansar Chand died of cancer at a hospital here Tuesday, a doctor said.

Sansar Chand, who was undergoing trial on charges of killing several tigers in Rajasthan's Sariska Tiger Reserve, was admitted to the Sawai Man Singh Hospital here few days ago, a doctor told IANS.

Resident of New Delhi, he is believed to be India's biggest wildlife criminal who has been responsible for more tiger and leopard deaths than anyone else.

Sansar Chand was undergoing trial in connection with poaching of tigers at Sariska in Alwar district, some 150 km from Jaipur. It was alleged that he was one of the smugglers responsible for disappearance of all the tigers from Sariska Tiger Resrve in 2005.

"He was lodged in the Alwar Central Jail and was brought to SMS Hospital last week. Tumours were detected in his lungs, brain and spinal cord. The cancer was in the last stage. Before being shifted to SMS, he was undergoing treatment at AIIMS in Delhi. He died while undergoing treatment today (Tuesday)," said the doctor.

The district and sessions court in Alwar had rejected his bail application filed by his lawyers on the ground that he was terminally ill and suffering from cancer.

"However, the court had directed the court of additional chief judicial magistrate to hear the case on the daily basis to dispose of the case as soon as possible, since the accused is terminally ill," said his lawyer Ashok Sharma.

Diaries seized from Sansar Chand's family by the Rajasthan Police in 2004 allegedly showed transactions of 40 tiger skins and 400 leopard skins, in a period of just 11 months from October 2003 to September 2004.

During interrogation by the CBI in 2006, Sansar Chand apparently admitted to selling 470 tiger skins and 2,130 leopard skins to just four clients from Nepal and Tibet.