Illegal poaching racket allegedly run by retired Colonel busted in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut

Around 140 weapons, 50,000 cartridges, animal skins of leopard and black buck were seized. Nearly 117 kgs of nilgai (blue bull) meat packed in over 45 boxes and an amount of Rs 1 crore were also recovered from the colonel's house.

A poaching and weapons racket has been busted during raids jointly conducted by Uttar Pradesh's wildlife department, local police and the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) in Meerut. The racket was reportedly being run by a retired Colonel.

The raid has been carried out at the retired armyman's house in Meerut. Around 140 weapons– both with license and illegal, 50,000 cartridges, animal skins of leopard and black buck have been seized. Nearly 117 kgs of nilgai (blue bull) meat packed in over 45 boxes and an amount of Rs 1 crore were also recovered from the retired colonel's residence during the 17-hour-long raid.

It was revelaed that Colonel, along with his son, has been running the racket across the western part of the state, Times Now reported.

The samples collected by the officials will be sent to the Dehradun lab to verify the meat type. Nilgai poaching is illegal in the country. Reports suggest a foreign national is also involved in the racket.

The police have detained a few people linked to the racket. Investigations are underway to get down to the bottom of the racket's previous operations. Prashant Bishnoi, the son of retired colonel, is a national-level shooter and is also under the police radar for his alleged involvement in the poaching racket.