B K Sharma
Special Tiger Award (2005)
B.K. Sharma is a police officer with an abiding love for wildlife. He has been a persistent investigator of wildlife crimes, following the trail of tiger skins and bones, shahtoosh, ivory and rhino horn in India and across our borders where he has worked with his counterparts in the Interpol and CITES. DIG with the Central Bureau of Investigation, his battle against organised crime has seen him apprehend some of the most dangerous criminals who had unleashed a reign of terror and had taken a vicious toll on endangered wildlife. He is currently investigating links between organised gangs with a revolving door between narcotics, arms and illegal wildlife contraband.Sharma’s enemies are those who ravage forested India. The ones who shoot, snare, poison and electrocute animals, and the treacherous agents who ferry such ill-gotten contraband to voracious markets for traditional medicine users, collectors, clothiers, fashion designers, pet fanciers and exotic cuisine-seekers. He and his group of committed investigators in the CBI must fight syndicates equipped with the very latest satellite phones, night vision scopes, bullet-proof vests and automatic arms. And when they do make their arrests, international money is lavished to engage sharp legal practitioners who use our complicated laws to virtually sabotage the judicial system. His most recent success, one for which every single Indian will be ever grateful, was the arrest of the infamous wildlife poacher, Sansar Chand and invocation of the Organised Crimes Prevention Act for the first time in the history of wildlife enforcement in India. The arrest was made by the Delhi police, with whom Sharma and his colleagues had been collaborating. He is one of India’s finest wildlife crime-busters.