Six persons sentenced to three years imprisonment in TN tiger poaching case

Chennai, Aug 26 (PTI) A Tamil Nadu court awarded three years' imprisonment to six persons, including three women, in a tiger poaching case in 2023, the first case handled by the Tamil Nadu Forest and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (TNFWCCB).

The TNFWCCB was launched in August 2023.

The conviction and penalty under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 has been possible due to the coordinated efforts of the TNFWCCB and the Wildlife SOS, a non-profit conservation organisation, in tracking the poachers from Haryana.

Terming it as a landmark judgment, the Wildlife SOS said in a statement here on Tuesday that the verdict came more than two years after a well-planned covert joint anti-poaching operation by the TNFWCCB, state police and Wildlife SOS.

The Anti-Poaching Unit investigators of the Wildlife SOS intercepted valuable information on the movement of the Bawaria tiger poaching gang from Haryana to Sathyamangalam in Tamil Nadu. "The unit tracked their movements meticulously by infiltrating the poaching gang and monitoring their nomadic camp sites".

Wildlife SOS passed on the intercepted information to the Tamil Nadu Forest and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. Following this, a joint operation to nab the poachers was launched in February 2023. The poachers were intercepted in Sathyamangalam and a 10-foot-long tiger skin, one tiger skeleton and one leopard skeleton were seized from them.

Director of TNFWCCB and Deputy Conservator of Forests R Kanchana, and ACF Mahendran coordinated on behalf of the forest department with support from Additional Chief Secretary Supriya Sahu, the release said.

Wildlife SOS investigators risked their lives infiltrating the Bawaria poaching community, enabling enforcement teams to act swiftly. On sustained interrogation, the accused revealed locations of concealed hunting devices, leopard skin, snares, knives, spears and tools used to kill and skin the big cats. Active jaw traps and hunting tools were also recovered from the forests of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve.

"What makes this conviction historic is not the scale of the bust but the persistence and dedicated planning that it took to achieve success," said CEO of Wildlife SOS Kartick Satyanarayan.

Co-founder & Secretary, Wildlife SOS Geeta Seshamani said, "the conviction sends a powerful message that crimes against India’s national animal will not go unpunished. We are proud to have supported enforcement agencies from the intelligence stage to the final conviction," she added.

Director, Sustainability and Special Projects, Wildlife SOS, Wasim Akram, said, "Our teams tracked this gang for months and stood firm through every stage of the trial. It is a rare victory that shows justice prevails." Stating that it was the first case handled by the TNFWCCB, Kanchana said tiger poaching was driven by international demand for their body parts used in traditional medicine and luxury markets.

On August 21, Sathyamangalam judicial magistrate P Ranjith Kumar, found the six persons guilty and sentenced them to three years’ imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 for illegally entering the forest and committing the offence. They were subsequently lodged at the Coimbatore Central prison. PTI JSP KH