Green court sends tiger poacher to 3-year jail
GURGAON: A special environment court in Faridabad has announced a sentence of three years’ imprisonment to a tiger poacher Bhima Bawaria. The court also imposed a fine of ₹10,000 under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 on Tuesday last week.
The accused was arrested on August 1, 2012, in Gurgaon in a joint operation by Wildlife SOS, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, CBI, and the Haryana forest department.
The teams had recovered tiger skeleton, tiger skin, ivory and turtles from him, said a Wildlife SOS official.
“Bawaria, who hails from Haryana, is a repeat offender. He is responsible for killing over 30 tigers across India and was first convicted of a wildlife offence by the chief judicial magistrate, Chamoli, in 2002,” ,” said Baiju Raj, director, conservation projects, Wildlife SOS.
He is allegedly involved in killing tigers from Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan,” Baiju Raj said.
Although there has been a slight increase in number of tigers in the country due to conservation efforts, however, tigers continue to face threats such as rampant poaching and illegal trade of body parts, habitat loss and loss of prey due to hunting, said Raj.
Wildlife experts said Bawaria’s conviction is a huge step to curb wildlife-related crime in the country. Tilotama Varma, IPS, additional director, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau said, “This is a big step forward for law enforcers and prosecutors. Bhima’s conviction is also a deterrent to other wildlife criminals in the country. We hope that the intelligence gathered from his case will help us track down other offenders and prevent related crimes.”
The Haryana wildlife department said that the accused has been identified as a supplier to international groups who deals with illegal trading of wildlife organs.
“They have a system and everyone has their particular task. Bawaria mostly deals with collection and supply to several groups,” said Vinod Kumar, conservator of wildlife, south Haryana.