Bhubaneswar: A 5-member team of the crime branch’s Special Task Force (STF) on Wednesday launched an intensive investigation into the mysterious appearance of 5 infant orangutans in Balasore district, amid suspicion of an international wildlife trafficking network operating along the eastern coast.The STF has begun examining CCTV footage and mobile tower data from areas surrounding Bhogarai, where the critically endangered primates were rescued, to identify those responsible for transporting and abandoning the animals. Investigators have not ruled out the involvement of an organised international wildlife smuggling racket.An STF team led by a superintendent of police-rank officer has reached the district and is working closely with local forest officials and police personnel. IG, STF, Himanshu Kumar Lal said another team would be dispatched to strengthen the probe. “We are taking assistance from the Coast Guard and gathering information from police stations located along the Odisha-West Bengal coastal border. The investigation is progressing on multiple fronts,” Lal said.According to STF officials, investigators are exploring all possible angles, including the possibility that the orangutans may have been stolen from a zoo before being trafficked. Authorities have reached out to zoological parks across India to ascertain whether any orangutans have gone missing in recent months. “It is too early to draw conclusions. We are trying to establish when the animals were transported, how they reached Balasore and who was involved. Movements of suspicious individuals are being tracked to establish the trail,” an STF officer said.While the STF is yet to make a breakthrough, forest officials associated with the rescue operation suspect the animals were deliberately abandoned in a forest patch close to a roadside location to ensure they would be discovered and rescued quickly. “The carriers did not leave the animals deep inside the forest. They were abandoned near an accessible area during the early morning hours rather at night. It appears those responsible wanted the animals to be found by forest authorities,” said a senior forest officer.Officials believe the timing of the abandonment may have helped save the young orangutans. Had they remained undetected for longer, they could have been exposed to attacks from snakes or other predators inhabiting the area. The rescue of the infant orangutans, a species native to Indonesia and not found in the wild in India, has triggered alarm among wildlife enforcement agencies.
