In a unique operation, an interstate gang which allegedly traded Langurs was busted by a joint team of Delhi Police's Crime Branch and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau with the arrest of five men and rescue of four Langurs here early this morning.
The gang has been earning hefty profits by selling these langurs to private companies. These animals are used to scare away other breeds of monkeys
The accused have been identified as Shahid Khan (36), Barish (20), Sunil Kumar (20), Shahid Ali (26) and Golu (20). Shahid Khan is the leader of this gang.
"At around 6:30 AM, a tip off was received that one interstate trader of Langur will come near Dhaula Kuan along with his associates in a Scorpio vehicle with four langurs in his custody for illegal trade, in contravention to the provisions of Wild life Protection Act 1972," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ravindra Yadav.
A team was formed under the close supervision of DCP Bhisham Singh to nab them. The team laid a trap near expected place of their arrival near Dhaula Kuan Delhi when a white Scorpio was spotted. The Scorpio was signaled to stop by the team but the accused persons tried to flee away and they were finally intercepted by the team and all the accused persons were successfully apprehended, police said.
"On checking, 4 Common Langurs were recovered from the boot space of the vehicle in 4 gunny bags. Trade/custody of the recovered Langurs is prohibited under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. Accordingly, a case under appropriate sections of law was registered and the accused persons were arrested," said Yadav.
On interrogation, the accused disclosed that they were going to deliver the Langurs in Fagwara, Punjab in a cloth mill. Common Langurs are being used to deter monkeys in different premises/places.
"They have also disclosed that they had also supplied Langurs to many big companies including Tata Motors (Johar), JCB, Escort Tractors, Haryana and a warehouse of a luxury car in Okhla Phase-III, Delhi. The same is yet to be verified. The accused persons used to earn Rs 10000-15000 per Langur against their services for a month," he added.
All the Langurs were around one year old. They were named by their captors as Sonu, Monu, Kundan and Mangal alias Boxer.
