Thankachi, the major link in ivory smuggling case that 'Poacher' dropped

The cinematic reinvention of real-life events is sure to have misses and additions to the real story to enhance the aesthetic values or to trim exhaustive details. Similarly, the recently released web series 'Poacher' streaming on Amazon Prime makes some omissions while pegging its subject on a series of heinous crimes related to elephant poaching and ivory smuggling.

Jayan Menon, the chief of bureau of Malayala Manorama in Kozhikode who broke the news about the incidents and reported extensively on the cases, in the latest episode of Onmanorama movie podcast Start Action Cut, described the creative deviations the series, 'Poacher' had adopted.

That a Forest guard, who tipped the journalist of the crime was absent in the web series, that the character of Mala, played by Nimisha Sajayan was a man named Manu Sathyan, a forest ranger, in the real context, and so on were some of the comparisons he had made. However, the most striking digression the series took, according to him, was the omission of the context of one Thankachi, a notorious offender who trafficked ivory crafts to China, Japan and so on via Nepal. The translated version of a recent article on Thankachi that appeared in Malayala Manorama newspaper is given below, which sheds more light on the involvement of the Kochi native in the crime.

How ‘Kolkata Thankachi’s disappearance put an end to the Edamalayar poaching case
Jayan Menon
Kozhikode: The infamous Edamalayar elephant poaching case is back in the news after a recently released web series attempted to reveal the disturbing secrets behind one of the biggest elephant hunts in the history of crimes committed against wildlife. However, the whereabouts of ‘Kolkata Thankachi’ aka Sindhu, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, who is one of the main accused in the case, remains a ‘mystery’.

Thankanchi had reached Kochi to surrender after the Department of Revenue Intelligence had arrested her husband and daughter. Even though she was under the watch of the forest officials since she landed in Kochi, Thankachi couldn’t be located after she was granted bail. No one seems to know where Thankachi is, even five years after she was last seen in Kochi.

Since Thankachi remains absconding, the investigation to nab the main conduits in smuggling ivory to Nepal and Bhutan via Kolkata and even to China and Japan has been stymied. Even after Thankachi’s son Ajeesh was arrested by the forest department in Thiruvananthapuram and her husband Sudheesh Chandrababu and daughter Amitha were arrested by the Department of Revenue Intelligence, the probe into the alleged involvement of high-ranking officials remains stale.

Thankachi had sought bail at a court in Kolkata on 27 March 2019 after her husband and daughter were arrested. Assistant conservator Manu Sathyan who was also the forest department’s liaison officer, Thundam range officer Sijo Samuel and Kalady beat forest officer Surrayya Basheer had reached Kolkata to take Thankachi into custody. However, the court granted her bail due to some ambiguity in the documents that were submitted. Thankachi sought the help of the forest officers when her lawyer tried to snatch away her ornaments as she was coming out of the court. She even agreed to come to Kerala with them. Thankanchi then reached Kochi accompanied by her other daughter, who is differently abled.

Thankachi was presented before the magistrate, the next day itself. However, the magistrate let her go saying that nothing could be done as Thankachi had been granted bail by a higher court in Kolkata. The court instructed her to appear on April 20 when her bail period ends. The officials urged Thankachi to report to them on the next day itself, before allowing her to go. Meanwhile, the accused who saw it as a golden chance, switched off her mobile phone and vanished. No one has seen or heard about her since then. The forest officials confess that even though her phone records showed that she may be near Ochira, no one seemed to be interested in follow-up.

Thankachi’s family who had migrated to Kolkata from Thiruvananthapuram were traditionally involved in the ivory business. They continued to indulge in the illegal ivory trade even after it was banned in 1986. In the initial interrogation, Thankachi had confessed that they had procured hundreds of ivories from Kerala and turned them into statues before smuggling them. However, it is still a mystery why the probe that may have exposed the involvement of many high-ranking persons suddenly didn’t proceed after that and why the CBI had been reluctant to take up the investigation of this case.