In Poacher, the Forest Department of Kerala investigates the reemergence of elephant poaching incidents in their state. The series is now streaming on Prime Video.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
In 1991, after the amendment of the Wildlife Protection Act in India, all hunters in India became outlaws overnight.
In 1994, conservationists and forest department officials shut down a vast elephant poaching and ivory smuggling ring.
Years later, in 2015, in Malayattoor, Kerala, Aruku, a local, confesses his involvement in the murder of elephants.
Aruku gives the names Raaz, a poacher inactive for years, Poyya Varghese, and Ivan Das. Raaz has gone mad. He is brutally slaughtering elephants and dealing in ivory again.
Aruku knows that he is going to suffer, but he wants to save the forest. Hence, he is here to share details with the cops.
Mala Jogi, who is posted in the bird sanctuary, receives intel on Raaz’s location. The cops have already botched capturing Raaz once. They miss Raaz again when they receive information from Mala.
Chief Wildlife Warden and Field Director, Neel Banerjee, takes over the case. Neel will handle the case his way, with his team, quietly, making sure there is no internal sabotage or leaks, which may result in poachers escaping.
The case is sensitive. An article from The Guardian describes that if the elephants in Kerala vanish, the ecosystem of the state will collapse, and within a few years, the state will be as polluted as Delhi.
Mala Jogi and Alan Joseph, a computer programmer with the Wildlife Trust of India’s Crime Control Division, join Neel’s team.
Morris Finn, whose number has appeared on Raaz’s call log frequently, gives crucial information after being pressured by the cops.
He claims he bought ivory from Raaz for a woman named Poonam Verma in Delhi. Poonam Verma is an art dealer who has a gallery in Delhi and sells ivory on the side.
Her salesman, Ravi Don, handles the sale of sculptures made from ivory. The cops also raid a workshop where artists are sculpting idols using ivory.
To catch Raaz, the cops raid Raaz’s sister’s house and a mystery house where Raaz has called. The mystery house turns out to be the home of a married woman who was having an affair with Raaz.
The woman says that Raaz is on the Goa-Maharashtra border. The Village Council President of Peringazha contacts the Forest Department, informing them that he has Raaz’s nephew, Shyam, with them.
Shyam talks to the cops because he cares about the job he will be getting abroad. Shyam not only shares Raaz’s exact location but also the fact that Raaz is on his way back to Kerala.
Unfortunately, the Forest Department again fails to capture Raaz, as they don’t find him on the train he is coming from.
The cops suspect that maybe Raaz never left the estate he is staying at. Neel orders a local team from Magdu to visit the place Raaz was staying at.
The local cops end up discovering Raaz’s body. It looks like he killed himself by hanging himself on the branch of the tree.
However, Mala is pretty sure that this is murder after talking to the caretaker of the place and examining the crime scene. In the meantime, Neel has assigned some officers to keep a watch on Ravi Don’s house.
Poyya’s relative, Yadu, gives away the location of Poyya when he is made to believe that Poyya’s life is in danger.
Poyya is captured. Poyya confesses to being involved in poaching elephants. However, he denies knowing where Ivan Das is. He also says they never dealt with Ravi Don. Anyhow, the cops have now captured their first poacher in this case.
With another link they have, the cops take Sasi Illampally into custody. Sasi has a history of poaching. He gives the name of a politician named Prabhas Peradi, who forced him to sell the ivory he possessed.
Peradi reveals that there is another gang operating under the nose of the Kerala Forest Department, which also hints at why Raaz may have been killed.
At the moment, Neel wants the team to focus on Raaz’s gang. Now that Raaz is dead, the case is going to be difficult to follow.
At a time like this, Ivan Das shows up at the police station to surrender. With Raaz’s entire gang in custody, the cops, with the help of Aruku, who knows forests the way even conservationists don’t, visit the locations where the elephants were killed by Raaz’s gang.
A comprehensive case is created. Now, the cops can follow the head of the snake, Poonam Verma, and arrest her too, along with her associate, Ravi Don.
Ending explained:
Breaking Poonam Verma down
The cops want to arrest Poonam and Ravi Don using Morris Finn’s confession. Morris Finn is a criminal himself. Hence, the cops don’t have enough to get a warrant against Poonam Verma.
Regardless, Neel secures the warrant by assuring authorities that he will obtain the necessary confession to apprehend Poonam Verma.
Mala and Alan, along with a team, barge into Poonam’s home and discover a workshop that looks like ivory but could be made of plastic.
Poonam is smart and plays her cards right. Mala plays smart too, and she gets Poonam to cooperate with her.
Poonam is brought to Kerala, where she is officially arrested. Meanwhile, Neel captures her associate, Ravi Don.
Alan digs into Poonam’s phone and comes across her daughter’s illegal business. A case can be created against Poonam’s family.
Poonam doesn’t want her family to suffer. Hence, she decides to confess.
Poonam’s confession and seizing her stock
Poonam claims that she has never done smuggling, but her husband does have some 20-30 years old ivory in a safe house in East Delhi.
The safe house is in a hostile place where people congregate. Riots can take place anytime there.
Neel can’t trust anyone outside of his team. Hence, he doesn’t want the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of Delhi to seize Poonam’s stock.
Neel’s team flies to Delhi and discovers the ivory stock in Poonam’s place. People gather, believing that the cops are seizing gold from one of their own.
A riot does take place. Neel’s team fights through everything and manages to put everything on the plane.
The aftermath
The seizure at Poonam’s safe house turns out to be the largest ivory raid in the history of the country.
The Kerala Forest Department accepts that they are to blame for not having strong protection against the poachers. However, they promise that they are working on a new protection plan.
They will ensure that all areas are properly scouted and the officers get to spend maximum time in the reserves camping and monitoring.
The Kerala Forest Department has charged 74 people, including the middlemen—the drivers, smugglers, carriers, carvers, and gunsmiths.
Mr. Menon from the CBI is invited by Neel, who needs the CBI’s help to catch the ivory consumers.
The case has helped Neel’s team realize that not just Chinese but Indians are buying ivory too. Ravi Don’s confession has given them many names, and so has his diary.
The list has some influential names. They are out of the Forest Department’s reach. Hence, Neel needs the CBI’s help.
Mr. Menon keeps the list but doesn’t say that he will handle the case. After all, some of the names on the list influence the government.
For now, Neel just wants Alan and Mala to take a break. Alan, with his family, and Mala, with her boyfriend Babu, visit the forests, while Neel gathers the courage to tell his family about his tumor.
Moving on, Mala will work part-time at the bird sanctuary. She will be involved in the prosecution of the poachers. Alan, on the other hand, is already joining a new team.
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