5 more dreaded poachers acquitted in sloth bear case

Nagpur: In a major setback to poaching cases, five more dreaded tiger poachers were acquitted in the hunting of a sloth bear by Amravati additional chief judicial magistrate SB Bhajipale.
Those who have been acquitted include Nirafal Chouhan, his son Srival, Arjun Patle Pawar, Nipustan Patle Pawar and Ujiyaar Dhurve. All were dramatically arrested by a team of Melghat Cyber Cell from Pune.
Earlier, the same court had acquitted three poachers — Areas Darkas Chouhan, his brother Bandaria and Kunter Pardhi. All of them were charged with killing four tigers, two leopards, and a sloth bear in Masondi in Ghatang range of Melghat.
At a time when the Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court has said that poaching of tigers is a serious crime, acquittal of these poachers has come as a shock for forest officials who have decided to file an appeal through their special counsel in Amravati Uday Deshmukh.
“We have already filed an appeal against earlier judgement by Bhajipale acquitting three accused in the same case. The acquittal will reflect cases in Nagpur,” a senior forest official said.
The Masondi case in 2013 was one of the biggest exposures of the forest department when at least 35 tiger poachers were arrested separately and cases are being fought in the court.
As per the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) report, in Masondi four tigers were poached. Besides, these poachers had targeted two panthers and a sloth bear by laying steel traps. Despite claims of strong evidence, the forest department lost the case.
The accused were part of a big gang involved in laying steel traps in Masondi. They first killed slot bear, followed by leopards and then tigers. However, sources said lethargy of forest officials concerned, who did not investigate the matter by an assistant conservator (ACF) rank officer as mandatory under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, seems to have proved costly. Besides, investigating officials were transferred frequently.
The gang was arrested from Pune in October last 2013. It used to operate in Melghat landscape. Some of them used to mortgage gold in Amravati for cash to fund poaching operations.