The sensational recovery of five orangutans from the Badapahi forest in Bhograi has blown the lid off an international wildlife trafficking ring, with the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Police intensifying raids across Odisha and West Bengal.
Investigators have placed a hotel businessman and his son under intense scrutiny, suspecting that the illicit wildlife deal was finalised at the Grand Heritage Hotel in New Digha.
CCTV Footage and Transit Routes
According to STF findings, six traffickers were reportedly staying at the Digha hotel, though only three registered their details. New CCTV footage has emerged showing a black Thar and a white car roaming suspicious alleyways near the hotel late Monday night.
A fertiliser shop’s security camera captured the Thar vehicle driving toward the Badapahi rescue site at 11:35 PM, completing the 22-kilometre stretch from Digha in roughly half an hour before returning within 12 minutes. Additional CCTV visuals show mysterious boxes being transferred from the white car to a black SUV—strongly suspected by investigators to be the crates carrying the caged orangutans. The STF is currently verifying whether the black SUV captured on camera belongs to the fugitive hotel owner.
Manhunt and Detentions
While three hotel employees, including the driver of the black Thar, have been detained and are undergoing marathon interrogation, the hotel owner and his son remain absconding. Multiple STF teams—aided by local police—have fanned out across Digha, Howrah, and Kolkata, scouring locations more than 200 kilometres away to apprehend the prime suspects.
With three traffickers operating without hotel registration records and key links yet to be established, the STF hopes that capturing the fugitive owner will unravel the full extent of this cross-border wildlife smuggling syndicate.
