Rayagada: Two wildlife criminals have been sentenced to three years of rigorous imprisonment by the court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Rayagada for smuggling leopard skins.
This is the fastest trial for any STF-investigated case and also one of the fastest in Odisha.
The smugglers have been identified as.Dambrudhar Majhi (38) of Naktiguda, Hundibora under Tikiri Police station, Rayagada and Santosh Kumar Naik of Medri Sahi, Uditpurkhurigam, Kashipur,Rayagada.
The Court sentenced both the accused persons to undergo Three years of rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs.10, 000.
In this case, on 24.05.2023, STF arrested the above-noted accused persons on RayagadaKoraput NH-326 near Siriguda Swargadham Chhaka of Rayagada Town Police Station in Rayagada and recovered three illegal leopard hides from their possession.
During the investigation, the seized Leopard hides were sent to the Wild Life Institute of India, Dehradun for biological chemical examination and the opinion was received affirmatively.
After a successful investigation, a charge sheet was submitted on 26th July 2023 against both the accused persons. Because of flawless investigation and proper prosecution, the case resulted in a conviction within 6 months from the date of the Charge sheet.
So far, the trial has been completed in 3 STF-investigated wildlife cases. All have resulted in a conviction.
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