changeadminThe Madhya Pradesh State Tiger Strike Force (MP STSF), in a coordinated operation with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), has successfully apprehended Ms Yangchen Lachungpa, an international wildlife criminal wanted under an INTERPOL Red Notice.
She was arrested on 2nd December 2025 in Lachung, North Sikkim, following sustained intelligence efforts and coordinated ground operations. This marks one of the most significant arrests in India, in which a wildlife criminal was apprehended following the issuance of an INTERPOL Red Notice.
The Notice for the accused was obtained by WCCB on 2nd October 2025, in its capacity as the INTERPOL Liaison Office. The operation was carried out with full cooperation from Sikkim Police, the Forest Department, the Judiciary, and the District Administration, and also received support from SSB in Sikkim and Siliguri for secure transit arrangements, in view of heightened public sentiment.
Following the arrest, the accused was taken to Gangtok for production before the competent court after a mandatory medical examination. After completion of medical tests, she was produced before the court on 3rd December 2025, where her bail plea was rejected, and transit remand to Madhya Pradesh was ordered. Further legal proceedings would now be carried out at Narmadapuram, Madhya Pradesh.
Background of the Case
A wildlife crime case was registered on 13th July 2015 by the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department in the Kamti Range of the Satpura Tiger Reserve, Hoshangabad (now Narmadapuram).
The case involved poaching and illegal trade in tiger body parts and pangolin scales, with seizures including four pieces of tiger bone, 1.5 kg of pangolin scales, Tiger skin, and Tiger bone oil extract.
Another main accused in the case, Mr Jai Tamang, arrested in October 2015, confessed that he supplied wildlife contraband to Ms Lachungpa, who also sheltered him. His confession firmly established her role in the trafficking chain.
A total of 36 individuals were named in the case, of which 27 were convicted by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Narmadapuram, on 20th December 2022. However, proceedings against Ms Lachungpa could not proceed because she was absconding.
A resident of Lachung in Sikkim, Yangchen Lachungpa was identified as a key member of an organised trafficking network with links from poachers and middlemen to transboundary illegal wildlife trade routes spanning Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan, and operating across multiple Indian cities, including Delhi, Siliguri, Gangtok, Kolkata, Kanpur, Itarsi and Hoshangabad.
Ms Lachungpa was briefly apprehended in September 2017 by MP STSF, but violated her bail conditions and absconded, leading to an arrest warrant on 29th July 2019.
Following her continued evasion, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau sought an INTERPOL Red Notice through the CBI (India’s National Central Bureau (NCB) for INTERPOL, handling Red Notices for all crimes, including wildlife offences).
The Notice was issued for Ms Yangchen Lachungpa on 2nd October 2025 as a ‘fugitive wanted for prosecution’, leading to her arrest on 2nd December 2025. The accused is considered a significant relay point in the transnational trafficking of wildlife contraband, especially tiger parts. Further investigation is expected to provide critical insights into both backward and forward linkages of the trafficking network.
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