OOTY: The Judicial magistrate court in Kotagiri near here on Thursday sentenced an elderly person to three years imprisonment and handed down a one-year term each to four others, all allegedly part of a group of 19 persons who tried to smuggle a piece of tiger skin from Kallampalayam area near Bhavani Sagar in Erode district and attempted it to sell it in Nilgiris way back in 2006.
The over decade-long case drew to a close with the court sentencing 63-year-old Ebenezer, hailing from Kalkaalmattam near Sholurmattam, who allegedly headed the ‘gang’, to three years imprisonment and slapping a fine of Rs 30, 000 on him. If he fails to pay the fine, Ebenezer’s jail term would go up to nine years, the judge said.
While two of the accused in the case passed away over the decade, 17 persons faced trial in the judicial magistrate court in Kotagiri. Forest department souces said that the ‘gang’ members were nabbed on June 18, 2006, in Sholurmattam on Kotagiri slopes for possessing a tiger skin piece. The court also sentenced four others accused in the case – Loganathan, 46, Sunderarajan, 40, Shankar, 39, and Laxman, 45, to one year imprisonment each and slammed a fine of Rs 10, 000 on each. As many as 12 others booked in the case were acquitted by the court.
