A Special Judge in Sagar has acquitted 11 of 13 people sentenced to seven years’ jail for allegedly poaching & smuggling pangolins & endangered turtles. The sentences of the 2 others have been reduced by 3 years, which means they can be released soon.
The appellate ADJ Court also waived their penalty in its 148-page judgment, delivered on Saturday. Forest officials said the department will appeal against this verdict.
One of the key accused, Manni Murugushan, will continue to be in jail since Interpol has issued a red-corner notice (RCN) & an extradition case is pending.
As many as 37 people were named as accused in this case, 11 of whom are from Hong Kong, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka & Madagascar. Efforts are still on to arrest foreign nationals through diplomatic channels. This was the first case in which the forest department had issued a lookout circular for the suspects. One of the accused died during the trials. A chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court sentenced 13 of them to prison terms in June this year.
According to K V S Thakur, counsel for accused Thamim Ansari, forest officials failed to prove that the accused were part of an organized syndicate. “There are no direct links between the accused. Moreover, forest guards were produced as cyber experts. There are several other flaws in the investigations,” Thakur told the news agency.
All of them have been in jail for more than three years. “Those
convicted will also be released soon since they have completed their
term, as the sentence has been reduced by three years,” said Thakur.
The case was registered by Madhya Pradesh STF-wildlife (also known as
State Tiger Strike Force) at Sagar on May 5, 2017, to investigate inputs
on poaching & smuggling of pangolin scales & various turtle
species, including one endemic to the Ganga basin, the red-crowned
roofed turtle (Batagur Kachuga).
The MPSTF (wildlife), headed by DCF Ritesh Sirothia, conducted an investigation & booked 37 people under Wildlife (Protection) Act-1972. The penalty for crimes related to protected species of turtles includes three to seven years in jail & a minimum fine of Rs 10,000.
Sixteen of the accused were arrested from Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal. Twelve of them are previous offenders, some with multiple criminal records of involvement in crime of the same nature.
The other 21 have been tagged absconders — 10 are Indians & 11 are foreign nationals. Their bail requests have all along been rejected, from district courts to HC & Apex Court.
The trial court has issued arrest warrants against all 21 absconders. The Supreme Court, while hearing a bail plea, had directed a speedy trial, following which CJM Sagar heard the case on a day-to-day basis & the high court monitored the progress.
Manni Murugushan was arrested at Swarnabhumi Airport by Thailand police in August 2012. He never appeared in court after getting bail from the Thai court, which issued an arrest warrant. Due to his fugitive status in Thailand, Interpol has issued an RCN against him.
Sirothia & his team had confiscated a Mercedes from him that was allegedly used for illegal transportation of turtles from Gwalior to Agra & Chennai.
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