ssixteen Camel Before disappearing, he traveled more than 1,000 kilometers from the arid Thar desert in Rajasthan to the lush green banks of the Ganges in Uttar Pradesh.
on June 27, They were found in Varanasi, allegedly tied like chickens to the back of a truck headed for West Bengal. The camels were lying upside down with their limbs and mouth tied with ropes. At least two of them have died since being rescued. And only two have been seen grazing in Katesar village of Varanasi division of UP.
For three months, various parties in Varanasi’s administration – the courts, the police, the caretakers – have been in a frenzy trying to get the remaining camels back to Rajasthan. But camels are nowhere to be found.
Barring two camels found in Katesar village and two now dead, the remaining 12 camels, which have been geo-tagged, have disappeared into the air. No one has seen him in the past three weeks—neither the villagers, nor the animal rights activists. His return home has been lost in petitions and PILs.
If the Varanasi Hotel is California, then the camels are the guests who can’t.
“We fear that the camels have been smuggled again, or they have died as we are completely unable to track them. If the camels were safe, why would the sessions court take so long to write a two-page verdict? Something strange is going on,” said Swati Belani, an animal rights activist from Varanasi.
The Sessions Court has been sitting on the matter for more than a month and is giving dates for hearing one after the other. Varanasi district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma is facing contempt of court, but it is not clear whether the onus is on him to ensure the safe return of camels to Rajasthan. He said that the administration does not have funds to take the animals back to Rajasthan. The sessions court was directed by the Allahabad High Court to deliver its ‘preferably’ judgment by September 30, but it was not delivered. On one hand, the police claim that the camels are safe and on the other, they are refusing to disclose their location or allow anyone to see them. Witness protection programs are also not so airtight.
Were the camels drowned in the Ganges? Where is the police hiding such big animals? These are the questions that have gripped Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi.
Where did the camels go?
Police investigation has revealed that camels were smuggled from Baghpat in UP to West Bengal. But there is no clarity on how they were taken from Rajasthan to Uttar Pradesh in the first place.
All five people from Baghpat have been charged with animal smuggling and booked under section 11 (cruelty to animals) of the Animal Cruelty Act and section 279 (rash driving) of the Indian Penal Code. One of them is absconding.
A herd of camels was rescued after police received a tip-off from Lata Devi, who runs the Gau Gyan Foundation, an animal rights organization in Varanasi. She claims she has a complex network of informers who regularly monitor the vehicles of smuggled animals.
But this was just the beginning of the saga. Authorities in Varanasi struggled to figure out where to keep these large animals that are not native to the state. Unlike cows, camels had no shelter to go to. They decided to keep them in a small plot of 2,500 square feet in Ramnagar near Lanka Maidan.
It was hardly the ideal place. Camels require a large area and being stuffed like cattle takes a toll on their health. They became violent and started hurting each other. A camel lost his life here.
The police claim that they produced a caretaker in the court on July 20 and sent the camels to Katesar village.
While this was unfolding in Ramnagar, the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) gave custody of the camels to Ankur Sharma, a representative of the Gau Gyan Foundation, on 7 July, and ruled that he should help supervise the transport of the camels. Was. It directed the investigating officer, Vishwanath Sonkar, to shift the camels to People for Animals, an animal care shelter and hospital in Sirohi, Rajasthan. The court also directed the district magistrate to make arrangements for taking the camels to Sirohi.
But their transportation has not been arranged yet. The camels are caught in a standoff between the district magistrate, courts and activists. Going back and forth for more than three months.
On September 22, when ThePrint tried to meet the detained camels, caretaker Ramesh Yadav refused. Later, Deputy Superintendent of Police Trilochan Tripathi, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Kashi Zone Ramesh Kumar Pandey and Assistant Commissioner of Police Headquarters and Crime Santosh Kumar Singh did not request permission to see the desert animals.
Katesar, where the ‘missing’ camels are currently believed to be kept, lies opposite the Ghats of Varanasi and although it is far from an arid desert, camels are not alien to the locals. Katesar village has 80 camels of its own, which are used for tourism.
The camels here are sourced from an annual fair in Pratapgarh. “Ramesh Yadav charges Rs 50,000-80,000 for a camel. Camels here live for four to five years,” said Ramjanam Yadav, 57, a resident of the village.
But neither he nor the other villagers know anything about the rescued camels, which are still unknown.
On 23 September, Ramnagar station house officer Ashwini Kumar Pandey told ThePrint that he would send his investigating officer and facilitate a look at the “case property”. But the next day, he changed his tune and said that it would not have been possible without a court order. “All you need to know is that camels are safe and secure,” he said.
The rumor mill is churning and many animal rights activists are hoping for a worst-case scenario. “These camels will again be sent to Bengal for slaughter, while the officials and their representatives can claim that the camels are lost due to disease. Despite the directions of the court, our local authorities have shown blatant disregard for the judiciary, and following the rule of law has always been a matter of choice for them,” Ballani said.
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DM’s denial
DM Kaushal Raj Sharma has stood firm in his argument- “No funds have been allocated for the transportation of smuggled camels.”
This is despite the fact that in the past, districts have borne the cost of returning smuggled cattle, even camels, to their home states. Recently, till September 12, the District Magistrate of Kushinagar in UP had ordered the remaining camels to be safely transported to Sirohi in Rajasthan at the state cost.,
According to animal rights activists, the transportation of camels will cost no more than Rs. 1-1.5 lakhs. On July 15, the Gau Gyan Foundation had filed a contempt of court case against Sharma and other concerned officials of the district for non-compliance of the court’s orders. The ACJM court had issued a show cause notice to the District Magistrate on July 19.
The court also reminded Sharma that Rule 5, sub-section 8 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Care and Maintenance of Animals in Case Property) Act 2017 states, “If the owner and the accused have the means to furnish bond If not, the Magistrate shall direct the local authority to bear the costs involved and recover it as arrears of land revenue.”
The DM instead filed a revision petition in the Court of Session, where it is currently reserved. Gyan Foundation approached the Allahabad High Court to expedite the unusually lengthy process. The HC had directed that the order be pronounced ‘preferably’ by September 30. It is now October, and the fate of the camels is not resolved.
Animal rights activists are puzzled as to why the district is refusing to send the rescued animals back.
“There is a precedent for the return of camels to their home state. The laws in place make it clear that it is the DM’s responsibility to ensure the safe return of the camels. When he [Sharma] Said that the district does not have money, we even said that we will raise money ourselves. But he was never open to talks,” claims Swati Ballani, secretary of the Varanasi-based Ramaiah Charitable Trust, which works for stray animals.
Gau Gyan Foundation’s lawyer Divesh Sharma also had a similar opinion. He said that it is strange for a district not to have a contingency fund. “It’s not a huge amount. The confiscated vehicle itself acts as a security and can give the required amount to the state. Why are they saying no?”
ThePrint tried to meet the District Magistrate at his camp office, but to no avail. Questions over the phone remain unanswered.
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camel smuggling
There is a big business of camels from Rajasthan and the cases of smuggling are increasing continuously. According to activists, they are usually taken to West Bengal where they are slaughtered for meat, which is further illegally exported to other countries.
“In the last one week, we stopped two vehicles in Gorakhpur. One vehicle had 16 camels, while the other had 25,” said Devi of the Gau Gyan Foundation.
Devi said that the National Highway 2 passing through Varanasi is the easiest way to enter West Bengal via Bihar and cattle smuggling is common on this route.
Varanasi police declined to comment on the matter. “Why don’t you ask the police in Rajasthan where exactly the smuggling starts? Why are you trying to defame Varanasi?” ACP Singh said.
Hanwant Singh Rathore, director of Lokhit Pashu Palak Sansthan, an NGO based out of Rajasthan, said camels are smuggled from Jaisalmer or Bikaner via UP or Madhya Pradesh. “A camel breeder is paid around Rs 10,000-12,000 for a camel. And in return, camels are sold for Rs 50,000-60,000,” he said.
Sirohi receives over 3,000 smuggled camels almost every year. Rathore questioned how the police guarding the state borders and national highways fail to nab the smuggled camels. “It is not easy to cross the borders of many states without paying the local police,” he alleged.
A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Grand Trunk Road is a busy, well-connected route for smuggling and smuggling animals. The police have various outposts from where smuggled cattle are caught. However, this is the first time that camels have been confiscated in Varanasi.
The fear is that it won’t be the last.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)