Kolkata: Forest officials have damaged rackets in Kolkata used to sell and transport prohibited, but expensive, Shahtoosh scarves – produced from the Tibetan antelope skin, the schedule I protected.
Every scarfer ranges from RS 3 Lakh to RS 10 Lakh, and one shawl apparently requires a hunt for at least three-five animals.
The forest officer confiscated 27 shawls like that, worth more than crore, and arrested three of Kashmir who sold it along with Pashmina and Angora shawl.
The endangered species listed in Schedule-I of the Wildlife Law (Protection) and Appendix-I of the Convention of International Trade in Wild Fauna Species and Endangered Flora, Tibetan Antelope (Pantholope Hodgsonii) is also called Chiru and imported any part or Pantholop products are prohibited by US law.
“Tibetan highlands in China, the small population of animals found in the high Himalaya Tibetan, Western China and North India far, where they were killed for parts.
Their pelt was converted into Shahtoosh and the horn of men was taken as a trophy.
There is no Chirus which is stored in captivity and usually requires three five animals to make a single scarf, “said a senior forest official.
The majority of Shahtoosh world is illegally woven in India, but all source countries prohibit animal and trade murders in Shahtoosh.
Even illegal had Shahtoosh shawl, the official said.
Each process, directly from getting wool to make a scarf, done by hand.
“The fabric is very soft and very light so that it can pass the wedding ring and almost not felt around the shoulder.
His warmth is incomparable,” the official added.
On Monday, wildlife crime control cell officers received a tip about a group that would pass the Chirpore area to send a scarf to Alipore.
Therefore, the officers were premarts posted along the route and while the car brought three men and the products through the captain of the mosque, the officers stopped them.
“The driver drove and our officers chased.
Finally, they were stopped near Calcutta Medical College and the hospital and arrested,” said a forest official.
Officials found 296 scarves, where 27 was allegedly Shahtoosh.
The police said the three men who were arrested – Abdul Samad Shah (58), Asif Ahmad Bhatt (21) and Sudarshan Kuswaha (45) – came from Kashmir and had sold and transported shawls that were prohibited in Kolkata and other countries for some time.