April 14, 2015

On 10 April 2015, the Judicial Magistrate First Class, Katni, convicted 6 poachers for shooting a tiger and skinning it in Bahoriband range of Katni division, Madhya Pradesh in January 2002. Two firearms including one muzzle loading gun, and a 12 bore gun, were seized from the accused at the time. One of the persons convicted in this case was the president of the Van Suraksha Samiti (Forest Protection Committee) at the time of the incident.

The forest department prosecutor in this case, Ms. Manjula Srivastava, deserves special credit for her hard work and perseverance. This included the use of handwriting experts to establish the authenticity of the post mortem report for the tiger, since the veterinary doctor who had written it passed away during the course of the trial.

The accused were convicted to 3 years imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 10,000 each. On request by the prosecution, the court directed the fine amount of Rs. 60,000 to be given to the forest department as compensation, for its use in forest protection.