A local court in Yavatmal has sentenced six persons to three years rigorous imprisonment (RI) and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each for hunting a chinkara and selling its flesh in 2006.
Yavatmal First Class Judicial Magistrate Pratibha Patil on Wednesday handed over the sentence to Kailas Malve, Laxman Pawar, Dnyaneshwar Rathod, Ganu Rathod, Divanji Rathod and Prakash Rathod, all residents of hutments along the Waghadi river in Yavatmal.
In April 2006, a team of police and forest officials headed by the then forest range officer D C Raut had, on a tip-off, raided their camps along the Hivri forest area and seized five kg of flesh, horns and skin of the hunted deer and a weighing scale from their possession.
After hearing both the sides and examining five witnesses, the judge found them guilty and awarded the sentence.