Shillong, Sept 19: Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden HC Chaudhury has sought cooperation and support from all concerned to protect and conserve precious wildlife wealth of the State.
He was addressing at the Inter-Agency Coordination meeting of the Central and State Agencies Enforcement Agencies organized recently by the Eastern Regional Office of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India in collaboration with the Wildlife Wing in the Forest and Environment Department.
The meeting was aimed at promoting inter agency coordination and collaboration to combat wildlife crime in the region, particularly in the State of Meghalaya.
Dr. Manoj Kumar, Joint Director, WCCB initiated the discussions by giving an overview of current status of wildlife crimes in India and efforts required to combat the same.
Real time sharing of intelligence, modus operandi, coordination in joint operation, updating wildlife crime databases, collaboration in capacity building training, present crime scenario in Meghalaya etc. were discussed in the meeting at length. All agencies present in the meeting agreed to join hands to effectively combat wildlife crime in the region.
The inter-agency coordination meeting was followed by a two days capacity building training on 15th and 16th September 2025 for cutting edge field functionaries involved in combating wildlife crime.
The training was attended by 28 officers in Wildlife Wing in the Forest and Environment Department and 7 officers from the Meghalaya Police. The training module includes sessions on implementation of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972; cybercrime, case documentation, present crime scenario in NE region, modus operandi, mobile forensics and relevant provisions of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bhartiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023.
Senior officers from the WCCB led by S.S. Patil, Regional Deputy Director, WCCB, Eastern Region and eminent experts from various fields delivered lectures during the training program.
The training has greatly helped the officers to understand finer details and nuances of the investigation and enquiry of wildlife offenses and prosecution of wildlife offenders.