- Probe into 5 orangutans found in Odisha expanded to West Bengal and beyond with the Coast Guard involved too
- CCTV footage, including clips showing a Mahindra Thar SUV, is key to tracing the animals' movement
- The orangutans, aged six months to one year, are being kept calm and fed mashed apples at the Bhubaneswar zoo
The investigation into how five baby orangutans came to be found in a forest in Odisha's Balasore district has moved beyond the state, with teams from the Special Task Force (STF) following a CCTV footage trail to Digha in West Bengal and onward towards Kolkata, with even the Coast Guard probing possible waterways through which the animals may have entered India.
The orangutans, aged between six months and a year, are at the Bhubaneswar zoo for now, being fed mashed apples, with classical music playing in the background to keep them calm.
Orangutans are not native to India, and their natural habitat is mainly the tropical rainforests in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. On Tuesday, September 8, the five young animals were found in a casuarina plantation in the Bichitrapur Badapahi forest area of Balasore district.
A Mahindra Thar SUV captured on CCTV footage has emerged as a key point of interest. The STF later examined recordings from at least 46 CCTV cameras along the main routes from Chandaneswar and Udaypur towards Digha. Security camera footage from railway stations and airports is under examination, too, for clues of trafficking or international links. The forest department and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) are assisting the probe, NDTV has learnt.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Kanwar Vishal Singh, who leads the STF, said similar cases reported across India are being referenced. The divisional forest officer (DFO), a two-member state-level investigation team, and a Crime Branch team reached the rescue site on Thursday. Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF) Prakash Chand Gogineni had earlier said the orangutans could have ended up in the Odisha forest following a botched transit operation.
The rescued animals are being kept in a stress-free environment and monitored around the clock at Nandankanan Zoo in Bhubaneswar, the zoo's deputy director Pradeep Mirase told NDTV.
One of the animals is around a year old, while the remaining four are around six months old. One of them developed a fever, which subsided on Thursday, he said.
Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, who is on a five-day business tour of the UAE, on Thursday ordered a probe and said the state "will never be allowed to serve as a transit route for the illegal trafficking of exotic wildlife".
"If any network is found to be involved in this illegal transport, it will be identified, and strict action will be taken in accordance with the law," Majhi said.
He also directed officials to ensure the rescued animals receive appropriate medical treatment, security, and necessary care in accordance with established wildlife protection protocols while the investigation is underway, the CMO statement said.
(Inputs by Dev Kumar Ghosh)
