• The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), eastern region, under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has sought reports from the forest departments of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura as part of an inquiry into illegal transfer and trading of captive elephants from northeast India to Kerala.

• The WCCB has noted that it has received a complaint regarding the criminal nexus of elephant procurement agents, illegal commercial trading and transfer of captive elephants from northeast India to Kerala. 

• It has directed the eastern region to constitute a committee for detailed inquiry and submit a report.

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau

• Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) was constituted by the government of India on June 6, 2007 under Section 38Y of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to combat organised wildlife crime in the country. It became operational in 2008. 

• It is a multi-disciplinary body with officials from Police, Forest, Customs and other intelligence & enforcement agencies.

• It functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

• Its headquarters is situated in New Delhi. There are five regional offices located at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Bhopal. There are three sub-regional offices at Guwahati, Amritsar and Kochi and five border units at Ramanathapuram, Gorakhpur, Motihari, Nathula and Moreh.

WCCB has been tasked with the following functions under Section 38 (Z), of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972:

i) Collect and collate intelligence related to organised wildlife crime activities and to disseminate the same to state and other enforcement agencies for immediate action so as to apprehend the criminals and to establish a centralised wildlife crime data bank.

ii) Coordination of actions by various officers, state governments and other authorities in connection with the enforcement of the provisions of this Act, either directly or through regional and border units set up by the Bureau.

iii) Implementation of obligations under various international Conventions and protocols that are in force at present or which may be ratified or acceded to by India in future.

d) Assistance to concerned authorities in foreign countries and concerned international organisations to facilitate coordination and universal action for wildlife crime control.

e) Develop infrastructure and capacity building for scientific and professional investigation into wildlife crimes and assist state governments to ensure success in prosecutions related to wildlife crimes.

f) Advise the government of India on issues relating to wildlife crimes having national and international ramifications, and suggest changes required in relevant policy and laws from time to time.

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