Bargarh: The Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Bargarh Saturday convicted an accused under section 51 of Wildlife Protection Act, and sentenced him to three years rigorous imprisonment.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs.10,000 on the convict for commission of offence under section 51 of The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
According to the prosecution, one Satyaban Sahu, wildlife criminal of Khajuria village under Bargarh district, was apprehended by the STF of Bhubaneswar on November 24, 2020 and leopard skin along with other wildlife products, was recovered from his possession.
Sahu was nabbed while waiting at a place to deliver the leopard skin to a customer.
After successful investigation, a chargesheet was submitted against the accused persons under section 379/411/120-B IPC r/w. 51 of Wild Life Protection Act, 1972.
During investigation the seized Leopard skin was also sent to WildLife Institute of India, Dehradun for biological chemical examination and opinion was received affirmatively.
The trial was conducted against the accused person and the judge after examining 12 witnesses including the Scientific Officer of WLI Dehradun, convicted the accused.
This is the fifth case of STF where the accused persons were convicted under Wildlife Protection Act.
Till date trial has been completed in five Wildlife cases and all the cases ended in conviction,STF sources claimed.
The conviction rate of wildlife crime cases in India is less than five per cent. However,the STF Odisha has taken special efforts to ensure that the investigation is of the highest standards so that the cases are brought to logical conclusion/ conviction.
STF is the specialized wing of Odisha Police to curb organized crime as well as cases against wildlife in the state.
The STF had the power/authority to investigate wildlife cases in 2018. So far, STF has detected 100 cases and has arrested 232 wildlife Criminals.
Among the seizures, the STF had so far seized 58 leopard hides 27 elephant tusks, 23 life pangolin, 42 Pangolin scales, two tiger hides and eleven deer hides.
UNI