Amazon Prime’s latest Indian show, Poacher, has hit the jackpot with praises pouring in from critics and audiences alike.
The eight-episode long series is available to watch in five languages though the original version (Malayalam) is multilingual itself.
One question everybody has upon finishing the series is whether Poacher is based on a true story or not.
Other doubts linger over topics like ivory recovery from Delhi, Kunjumon Devasey’s confession, among other things.
Let’s find out.
Is Poacher Based on a Real Story?
The official disclaimer of the series says it is only ‘inspired’ by true events, dramatized for fictional purposes.
However, the tall claims of Poacher need an in-depth dive. Was there ever a poaching case in Kerala of this magnitude?
The timeline of the show runs around the year 2015. So, it was not difficult to scour the internet.

Back then, a similar case happened in Kerala itself.
Kunjumon Devasey, a forest watcher, walked inside the Idamalayar Forest Department’s office and confessed to having been part of a gang that poached 20 elephants over two years.
Before that, he had gone to the Karimbali or Karimbani Forest Station (in Poacher, this is shown as Vijay Babu’s station), where nobody believed him and he was called mentally ill.
Even at Idamalayar, he had to force the officials to record his statement.
Soon, newspapers broke the story to the masses. Malayala Manorama, a regional newspaper, carried a front-page news regarding Elephant poaching.
It said around 20 of the large mammals were killed by poachers.
Media pressure led to the Minister of Forests getting into action and ordering a probe.
The investigations began a few days later, with over 100 people combing the forests.
Devasey’s information turned out to be true and whatever he had said about the Elephant carcasses, camping locations of the poachers, and the specific areas; everything returned results for the officials.
However, due to some mischievous officials, things became murky, and a case was lodged against Devasey himself.
He was remanded to 18 days in jail.
Only after some upright officers took over the case that sense prevailed and Operation Shikar was launched.
What Was Operation ‘Shikar’?
The investigation behind the poaching of Elephants was given the name, ‘Operation Shikar.’ Its first phase, which lasted for six months, was a silent phase with the investigators focusing on collecting evidence. It revealed the poaching gangs had killed 28 elephants.
Consequently, during the trail, the officials obtained a diary from one of the poachers and got hold of phone numbers of possible suspects.
Some reports say that Devasey had given the cops phone numbers of all the poachers but they didn’t do much about them. We’ll talk more about this later.
Besides, when the first phase of Operation Shikar ended, a chargesheet was filed against 72 people.
Nearly five gangs in Kerala and three outside the state were found to be involved.
The racket extended to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, New Delhi, and West Bengal.
At the end of the whole investigation, over 400 kg of ivory was recovered by the Kerala Forest Department from different locations.
Even though CBI could have taken over, as requested by the state of Kerala, and nabbed the international elephant trafficking racket, the agency backed out.
This was the whole gist of what transpired in Kerala in the 2015 ivory trading case. Let’s now focus on some other aspects.
Did the Kerala Forest Department Alone Lead the Case?
Though it led the case, the department was helped by the Wildlife Crime Control, Delhi Police, and the Wildlife Trust of India.
How Did the Poachers Plan the Killing of Elephants?
Interestingly, during the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the criminals would meet in courtrooms during their respective hearings.
Therefore, ironically, the biggest Ivory trading crime in India was planned in courts.
Amir Mallick was the real Neel.
What is Not Real in Poacher? What Does it Not Show?
The Amazon series shies away from showing the complicity of forest officers. Many news reports suggest that nobody ever wanted to go on with the case.
In fact, when Kunjumon Devasey took the cops to the place where the poachers camped in the jungle, the officers called the camp a shed of the tribespeople.

The phone numbers of poachers, provided by Devasey, were not traced. At one point, the forest officials even closed the case saying the state police was not helping them.
It was when the Forest Vigilance Additional Conservator Officer sought a serious probe that the officers who did all this were suspended by the government.
Had Kunjumon Devasey not exposed his own crime, nobody would have ever found out about the grossly illegal poaching of elephants, which came to be known as the biggest elephant poaching in India.
So, the question is…
Why Did Kunjumon Devasey Confess?
The forest watcher confessed for his conscience. Though the lack of money had forced him to help the gang of poachers, he was an animal lover at heart.
Still, the turning point for him came when the gang killed an elephant calf. He could see the men destroying the animals and hence, the forests, which he used to protect.
Who Was Raaz in Poacher?
Raaz, played by Noorudheen Ali Ahmed, is the onscreen portrayal of the real-life poacher, Aykkaramattom Vasu.
Reportedly, he was the kingpin of the poaching gang and just as shown in Poacher, Aykkaramattom Vasu was found dead by suicide under mysterious circumstances at a farmhouse in Maharashtra.
Interestingly, Vasu’s village, Kuttampuzha, is among the most dangerous places for wildlife. This happened after the people of the village saw Vasu’s lifestyle change after he became a poacher.
They see the money behind poaching.
Was Ivory Trade Done Using Ganesha Idols in Reality?
Indeed, while ivory trading has historically been linked to African nations, it also occurs in India.
The majority of the population in India follows Hinduism, with many worshipping Lord Ganesha, an elephant god.

Poachers and ivory traders would craft Ganesha idols and sell them at premium rates, effectively supporting their business and expanding their reach to the general public.
Thus, the opportunity for such practices existed.
Wealthy buyers and upscale dealers, as depicted in the series, played a role in selling these idols to their affluent clientele.
How Many Elephants Were Killed?
Unofficially, around 100 elephants were poached in 2014-15 in the region.
Was the Ivory Recovered from Delhi, as Shown in Poacher?
Yes, the ivory was recovered from Jaffrabad, Delhi, in October 2015. A businessman named Umesh Aggarwal used to sell ivory through his art company, Art of India.
He would export his products to other countries after blending genuine ivory and ivory articles with sandstone and resin statues to elude detection.
Additionally, he openly crafted and showcased items that mimicked the appearance and texture of ivory in various art exhibitions.
This was done to attract customers interested in buying authentic ivory products.

When apprehended, Umesh had drawn the sketch of the building where he had stashed the ivory after the arrest of his suppliers in Kerala.
Officers from the Kerala Forest Department had teamed up with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, and the Delhi Police to raid the premises.
They recovered over 480 kg of ivory in a search operation that lasted for 12 hours and came to be known as Jaffrabad 2015 ivory recovery.
Barring the overcrowded streets shown in Poacher, the show is true in the spirit of the operation.
Why Neel liked Turtles in Poacher Series?
Neel’s affair with Turtles will remain an enigmatic feature of Poacher.
For the uninitiated, Neel had told Alan to bring a folder with Turtle-related documents whenever he meets him in person.
Neel liked Turtles because he found them interesting. While he was on the verge of dying, having been diagnosed with cancer, Turtles by nature had the capacity to live hundreds of years.
This whole Turtle thing was brought into the narrative to show a contrast from a creative point of view.
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