Five Assamese poachers sentenced to 3 years RI for elephant tusk smuggling in West Bengal
Forest officials intercept vehicle near Siliguri, CJM court hands down verdict after high court denies bail
A local court here on Wednesday convicted five Assamese citizens who had been caught earlier this year for importing elephant tusks to three years of rigorous imprisonment (RI).
In June of this year, Assamese individuals Jagannath Mondal, Chandan Biswas, Ratneswar Barman, Tilak Barman, and Sanjoy Barman were traveling to Siliguri in a vehicle with tusks.
Following a tip, a group of foresters under the command of Niladri Kishore Roy, a range officer assigned to the Gorumara wildlife division, stopped the vehicle close to the NH27 toll booth at Fatapukur, which is situated between Siliguri and Jalpaiguri.
Searching the car, they discovered four tusks in a bag—two long and two short.
The car's five passengers were all taken into custody.
After a while, the chief judicial magistrate's (CJM) court in Jalpaiguri opened for business.
However, those who were detained filed bail applications with the Calcutta High Court's Jalpaiguri circuit bench.
On the other hand, the high court denied the petition and directed the CJM court to hold the trial in three months.
Thus, the trial took place. The CJM court condemned all five of them to three years of hard labor, effective today, Wednesday. Additionally, each individual was fined Rs 25,000. The assistant public prosecutor, Mrinmoy Banerjee, threatened to sentence them to an additional six months in jail if they did not pay this amount.
