Bhubaneswar: The rescue of five endangered infant orangutans from a forest in Odisha’s Balasore district has escalated into a major political controversy, with the opposition on Saturday raising alarms over serious national security lapses along India’s eastern borders.
Leading the charge, Bhograi BJD MLA Goutam Buddha Das expressed deep concern over the incident, demanding an immediate joint probe by premier national investigation bodies including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency (NIA), and Intelligence Bureau (IB). Das criticised the state police’s Special Task Force (STF) and Forest Department for failing to trace the culprits or vehicles five days into the probe. “The Chief Minister himself said that this is a very big issue, and the Forest Minister said that an international gang is involved in it. This is a serious, it is not confined to orangutans, but extends far beyond wildlife trafficking and signals at a serious national security lapse. Here, we have sensitive defence installations like Chandipur and APJ Abdul Kalam Island, and the issue, therefore, concern national security. If an endangered species can be smuggled across international borders into Bhograi via sea routes or unmonitored rural border roads from Mizoram, West Bengal, and Digha, the same transit networks could be exploited by hostile elements to transport terrorists, arms, illegal drugs, and counterfeit currency. Bangladeshis are already infiltrating the state,” he noted.
Echoing similar concerns, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das further stated that the trafficked infants were likely to have been abandoned by smugglers fearing immediate capture and urged authorities to ensure their suitable long-term rehabilitation.
The ruling BJP, however, rejected the call for a central takeover. “…The government is extremely sensitive to this matter. The Chief Minister has formed a special team and the STF and WCCB are professional agencies fully capable of busting the network and arresting the culprits,” said BJP MLA Irasish Acharya.
He further accused the opposition of politicising the issue instead of focusing on the animals’ welfare, stressing that the five orangutans were safe and well cared for at Nandankanan in Bhubaneswar.
The incident came to light on September 8 morning when a Van Suraksha Samiti member spotted five unusual primates in a casuarina plantation near Badapali village in Bhograi block. Initially mistaken by villagers for local monkeys, forest officials dispatched to the scene identified the animals as young orangutans, two females and three males, approximately six to twelve months old. Given their young age, limited mobility, and healthy condition, Balasore Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Indalkar Pratik Prakash noted that the non-native primates could not have migrated naturally across international boundaries or survived long in the wild against local predators like jackals and stray dogs without human intervention.
The animals were safely relocated to a temperature-controlled quarantine facility at Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar. Veterinary experts from the zoo, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) are closely monitoring their health, noting that while the infants are active and responsive, they show signs of missing maternal care. The Indonesian government has also closely monitored the situation, coordinating with Indian authorities to verify the origin of the critically endangered species and discuss potential repatriation protocols.
Meanwhile, the STF is examining regional transit corridors, maritime police check points, and local CCTV footage to track suspect vehicles.
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