Bhubaneswar: The Court of Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Sonepur convicted two persons for smuggling live pangolins in the district in 2020.
The convicts are Somanath Bag alias Renchu of Kapasira and Marsalan Bhengera of Gindhilamal in Ulunda of Sonepur district. They were arrested in STF PS Case No. 26/2020.
The court sentenced both Somanath and Marsalan to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment (R.I) for three years with a fine of Rs. 10,000 for commission of offence u/s. 51 of The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and in default RI of 6 months and Rigorous Imprisonment (R.I) for One year for
commission of offence U/s. 411 IPC.
In this case, on 17.10.2020, STF, Bhubaneswar intercepted the duo on the road near Rajakothi (Mahanadi Bridge), in Sonepur while they were proceeding towards Birmaharajpur. During the search, one live pangolin and pangolin scales were recovered from their possession. After a successful investigation, a charge sheet was submitted against Somanath and Marsalan.
During investigation, the rescued pangolin was handed over to the Forest Department for
rehabilitation and the pangolin scales were sent to the Wild Life Institute of India,
Dehradun for biological chemical examination and opinion was received affirmatively.
The trial was conducted against Somanath and Marsalan where during the trial prosecution examined seven witnesses and exhibited 30 documents.
This is the seventh case of STF where the accused persons were convicted under the Wildlife
Protection Act and this is also the first case where accused persons were convicted in
Live Pangolin Case.
To date, trials have been completed in seven wildlife cases investigated by STF and all the cases ended in conviction. This is worth mentioning that the conviction rate of wildlife crime cases in India is less than five per cent.
STF is the specialized wing of Odisha Police to curb organized crime as well as cases against Wildlife in the State. Offence under the Wildlife (Protection) Act is also one of the focus areas of STF.
STF got the power/authority to investigate wildlife cases in 2018. So far, STF has booked 101 cases and has arrested 232 wildlife criminals. Major seizures by STF so far include 59 leopard hides,
27 Elephant Tusks, 23 Live Pangolin, 42 Kg Pangolin Scales, 2 Tiger hides & 11 Deer Hides.
