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Time of India
5 days ago
- General
- Time of India
CZA team in Kol, probes Alipore Zoo ‘missing' animal records, transfers
1 2 3 4 5 Kolkata: The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has sent a three-member team to the Zoological Garden, Alipore, to look into serious allegations of gross mismatch in its wildlife inventory and carry out an audit of animals at the zoo. Citizens' collective Save Wild Animals of Zoo and Our Nature (Swazon) has flagged the huge discrepancy of over 300 missing animals from the inventory recorded in the last day of 2023-24 and the first day of 2024-25 at Alipore zoo. The team will also go through records of some animals transfers from the facility. At least 51 animals were transferred from the zoo to a facility in western India in 2023-24 — at the very beginning of the fiscal, April 2, 2023. During the FY, 21 animals and birds were transferred to North Bengal Wild Animals Park near Siliguri, six to Junglemahala zoo in Jhargram, against two tigers and five birds and animals from the facilities in Siliguri and Jhargram, respectively. But the zoo annual report of 2023-24 is mum on the purpose of transfers to the western India facility. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata The CZA team will not only go through this year's inventory but also look into past inventory. Also on radar is large number of deaths that officials allegedly claimed had happened during the year and their inability to conduct autopsy as the bodies had decomposed. Swazon questioned how so many animals can decompose at a zoo where keepers are assigned to all cages. Asked if transfer of 51 animals were done under any exchange programme, Tapas Das, ex-zoo director, only said: "We need to check CZA documents." Central Zoo Authority member secretary Clement Ben said: "I cannot comment as our team is in Kolkata to probe the matter. They will submit a report soon." "Any transfer of zoo animals has to have a specific purpose, including exchange or dispersal of surplus stock. In this case, it does not appear entirely clear what the purpose of transfer was and if this rationale was made transparently public at the time," said Shubhobroto Ghosh of World Animal Protection in India. Ex-member secretary of CZA, Sanjay Shukla, said exchange is always not mandatory for such transfer/acquisition. "It is to be seen if donor zoo has some animals in excess and if these animals are missing from inventory of recipient zoo. In such a case transfer can happen without any exchange and without disturbing breeding pairs at donor zoo," he added. Animals in the lot of 51 are four fishing cats, one brow-antlered deer, one jungle cat, two marsh crocodiles, two Indian munjtac, three water monitor lizards, nine rock pythons, nine painted storks and 20 star tortoises.
Time of India
5 days ago
- General
- Time of India
CZA probes zoo ‘missing' animal records, transfers
1 2 3 4 Kolkata: The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has sent a three-member team to the Zoological Garden, Alipore, to look into serious allegations of gross mismatch in its wildlife inventory and carry out an audit of animals at the zoo. Citizens' collective Save Wild Animals of Zoo and Our Nature (Swazon) has flagged the huge discrepancy of over 300 missing animals from the inventory recorded in the last day of 2023-24 and the first day of 2024-25 at Alipore zoo. The team will also go through records of some animals transfers from the facility. At least 51 animals were transferred from the zoo to a facility in western India in 2023-24 — at the very beginning of the fiscal, April 2, 2023. During the FY, 21 animals and birds were transferred to North Bengal Wild Animals Park near Siliguri, six to Junglemahala zoo in Jhargram, against two tigers and five birds and animals from the facilities in Siliguri and Jhargram, respectively. But the zoo annual report of 2023-24 is mum on the purpose of transfers to the western India facility. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata The CZA team will not only go through this year's inventory but also look into past inventory. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Use an AI Writing Tool That Actually Understands Your Voice Grammarly Install Now Undo Also on radar is large number of deaths that officials allegedly claimed had happened during the year and their inability to conduct autopsy as the bodies had decomposed. Swazon questioned how so many animals can decompose at a zoo where keepers are assigned to all cages. Asked if transfer of 51 animals were done under any exchange programme, Tapas Das, ex-zoo director, only said: "We need to check CZA documents." Central Zoo Authority member secretary Clement Ben said: "I cannot comment as our team is in Kolkata to probe the matter. They will submit a report soon." "Any transfer of zoo animals has to have a specific purpose, including exchange or dispersal of surplus stock. In this case, it does not appear entirely clear what the purpose of transfer was and if this rationale was made transparently public at the time," said Shubhobroto Ghosh of World Animal Protection in India. Ex-member secretary of CZA, Sanjay Shukla, said exchange is always not mandatory for such transfer/acquisition. "It is to be seen if donor zoo has some animals in excess and if these animals are missing from inventory of recipient zoo. In such a case transfer can happen without any exchange and without disturbing breeding pairs at donor zoo," he added. Animals in the lot of 51 are four fishing cats, one brow-antlered deer, one jungle cat, two marsh crocodiles, two Indian munjtac, three water monitor lizards, nine rock pythons, nine painted storks and 20 star tortoises.
Time of India
24-06-2025
- Time of India
GRP seizes contraband, arrests woman drug peddler at Agartala railway stn
Agartala: Govt Railway Police (GRP) in Agartala seized a significant amount of contraband substances in two separate operations at Agartala Railway Station and arrested a woman drug peddler, reports Biswendu Bhattacharjee. According to GRP officer Tapas Das, the first operation took place late Monday night during routine checks on platform number 3, shortly after the arrival of the Agartala-bound Humsafar Express. Two unclaimed bags were discovered, and upon inspection, officers found 270 bottles of cough syrup, a contraband drug under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, worth Rs 1.35 lakh. Police said the arrested woman, identified as Aparna Debbarma (29), is a resident of Karaimura under Sepahijala district. She boarded a train to Delhi and was found in possession of 21.490kg of dry cannabis worth Rs 7.5 lakh, packed in nine separate packets concealed inside a trolley bag. During interrogation, Aparna admitted that she intended to transport the contraband to Delhi and also confessed that this was not her first attempt.
Indian Express
20-06-2025
- Indian Express
Human trafficker arrested in Tripura's Sepahijala district
A human trafficker was arrested at Dudhpukur under Kalamchoura police station in Sepahijala district today. The arrested person was identified as Sharif Miah, resident of Dudhpukur. He was arrested during a joint raid conducted by Agartala Government Railway police, local police and Border Security Force. 'He was wanted in a case. We conducted raid at his house many times, but he was absconding. We came to know that he is currently at his home and conducted a joint operation to arrest him. We produced him to the court today and sought police remand for him', said officer in-charge of Agartala Government Railway Police Station Tapas Das. In the preliminary interrogation, he confessed his involvement in the case, however, police are investigating to find out whether he had any involvement in other cases, the police official added. Few days ago, Two persons including one Bangladeshi national and an Indian human trafficker were arrested from two separate places in Tripura. The trafficker, resident of Chanipur in West Tripura district was arrested during joint operation conducted by Agartala Government Railway police, Railway Protection Force (RPF) , Border Security Force (BSF), local police station and other sister agencies. A series of arrests of Bangladeshi and Rohingya persons have come in different parts of Tripura, especially at Agartala Railway Station. As per a report of the Tripura Police, 816 Bangladeshi nationals, 79 Rohingya persons and two Nigerians were arrested from January 1, 2024 till February 28 this year. Tripura CM Dr. Manik Saha, who also holds the Home portfolio, recently informed that 2815 Bangladeshi nationals were arrested for illegally crossing the Indo-Bangla border into Tripura from 2022 to October 31, 2024, out of which 1746 have been pushed back to their country of origin and 1069 others are housed in jail custody, temporary detention centers, shelter homes or are out on bail. Tripura shares 856 km of international border with Bangladesh, including land based and riverine border, much of which is covered with barbed wire fence except a few patches which are still unfenced due to local disputes.
