MP court sentences 13 international poachers to 7 years’ imprisonment

In the past 10 years, the gang smuggled at least 100,000 red-crowned roofed turtles and pangolins--both are listed as critically endangered on the IUCN list of threatened species-- to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and a few other countries

The chief judicial magistrate of a Sagar court convicted 13 international poachers and sentenced them to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for smuggling endangered turtles and pangolins from Madhya Pradesh to different parts of the world, said an advocate.

Representational image. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In the past 10 years, the gang smuggled at least 100,000 red-crowned roofed turtles and pangolins--both are listed as critically endangered on the IUCN list of threatened species-- to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and a few other countries, said Sudha Bhadoria, an advocate.

The court imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh on the kingpin of the gang, a resident of Chennai, Manivannan Murugesan, who is also wanted in Thailand, under Section 51(1)A of Wildlife Protection Act 1972. The court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on the accused Ajay Singh, Ram Singh and Mohammad Iqrar from UP, Thamim Ansari from Chennai, Mohammad Irfan, Tulsidas and Tapas Basak from Kolkata, and a fine of ₹20,000 on Azad Singh, Sampatiya Batham, Vijay Gond, Kamal Batham and Kailashi from MP.

Bhadoriya said, “Mohammad Irfan from Kolkata used to work as an agent for Murugesan to supply wildlife animals to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand via Myanmar and Bangladesh. Ajay Singh from Agra used to hand over turtles to Thamim Ansari of Chennai to smuggle them to Sri Lanka. The other accused were supplying the turtles and pangolins from the forests and rivers,”

“The accused were lodged in Sagar jail and applied for bail in the high court and Supreme Court but they were denied. The hearing was being monitored by the apex court since January 2020. During the trial in the case, 27 witnesses were examined by the prosecution before the court. In the case, final arguments were presented on behalf of the prosecution for 13 days,” said Saurabh Dhimha, additional district prosecution officer.

Notably, Murugesan is also wanted in Thailand in connection to a case of smuggling of 890 endangered turtles in 2012. He was arrested by Thailand police and was released on bail. He then went on the run until his arrest in MP. A lookout notice was issued against him and a metropolitan court also issued a warrant against him.

With inputs from Anupam Pateriya from Sagar