2 awarded 3-yr imprisonment, fined for hunting wild animal

NURPUR, NOVEMBER 23

Jawali Judicial Magistrate 1st Class Deepali Ghambir yesterday convicted two accused for killing a wild animal, Palm Civet, locally known as ‘sakralu’, with stones with a motive to hunt. The court has sentenced Sikander Kumar of Chalwara in Jawali and Vijay Kumar of Maltehar in Mandi district to three years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 each for committing the crime.

The duo was found guilty under Section 51 of the Wild Life Protection Act-1972.

As per court orders, the fine amount recovered from the convicts will be given to the Forest department as compensation to be utilised for wildlife protection activities.

According to Assistant District Attorney Jawali Ravi Kumar, who presented the case on behalf of the government, Kotla police check post got an information about the suspicious movement of these two poachers in a nearby forest on October 24, 2009. “Police from the check post went to the spot and the duo was caught red-handed with the dead animal. After this, a post-mortem of the carcass was conducted and then it was handed over to the Forest Department,” he said.

On the complaint of Forest Range Officer, Kotla, a case was registered against these two poachers under Section 51 of the Wild Life Protection Act 1972 at Jawali Police Station.