29 August 2019



Nagpur: Two notorious tiger skin and body parts traders Surajbhan alias Sarju Bagdi and Naresh alias Lala Sharma from North India have been convicted by a CBI special judge in New Delhi in a poaching case linked to Maharashtra.

While Sarju has been sentenced to five years simple imprisonment with a fine of Rs10,000, Lala has been sentenced to three years and a fine of Rs10,000. In case of default, the convicts will have to undergo additional jail of one month and 10 days respectively.

Sarju and Lala were dramatically arrested by a joint team of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and Maharashtra forest officials in Delhi. They seized cash Rs2.50 lakh and 18kg tiger bones from the duo.

Both the convicts had links with international tiger body parts traders. They were to sell the material to notorious trader Suraj Pal alias Chacha, from whom cash Rs50 lakh was seized. Chacha died last year.

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