In a major step toward improving coordination and efficiency in combating wildlife-related offences, a two-day Capacity Building Training on Wildlife Crime Investigation concluded on Wednesday at the Forest Training School, Bethlehem Vengthlang, Aizawl. The programme brought together officers from the Forest Department and the Police Department to strengthen their technical and legal understanding of wildlife crime investigation, with a special focus on the challenges of illegal wildlife trade in Northeast India. The training, held from October 8 to 9, was jointly organised by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Eastern Region, Kolkata, and the Department of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (EF&CC), Mizoram, as part of the 71st Wildlife Week celebrations. The initiative aimed to enhance the capability of enforcement personnel in detecting, investigating, and prosecuting wildlife crime cases more effectively.
The inaugural session was held under the chairmanship of Ravi Horo, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Mizoram, while Agni Mitra, Conservator of Forests (Planning), delivered the keynote address, emphasizing the urgent need for collaboration between departments. Mitra highlighted that wildlife trafficking networks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, often overlapping with other organized crimes such as smuggling of arms, drugs, and forest produce. A total of 35 officers—including 27 from the Forest Department and 8 from the Police Department—participated in the training. The sessions were led by a panel of expert resource persons from WCCB, including Abhijit Roy Chowdhury, Additional Director (Eastern Region); Samir Majumder, Senior Government Advocate; Shahbaaz Hussain, Senior Consultant, Ministry of Home Affairs; and Koushik Mondal, Wildlife Inspector, WCCB.
The experts conducted interactive sessions covering a wide range of topics such as illegal wildlife trade routes, modus operandi of traffickers, and legal procedures under The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Officers were also briefed on best practices in evidence collection, case documentation, handling of seized specimens, and coordination with judiciary and forensic laboratories during investigations.
