Summary:
Bareilly: After nearly 15 years, a Lakhimpur Kheri court on Monday sentenced a man to four years of imprisonment for possessing leopard skin in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR).Ramesh Pandey, field director, DTR, said, “A team of forest staff had caught Ram Bharose with leopard skin from Bankati range of DTR on April 3, 1994. Bharose told forest team that his two aides — Hori Lal and Munna Lal, both natives of Nepal — were also involved in the crime. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on Bharose.The court had convicted Bharose on February 14, and thereafter, police arrested him on Sunday and he was sent to jail on Monday.The convict is a resident of Piprola village under Gaurifanta police station in Lakhimpur Kheri district. However, as the credentials of his Nepalese aides were not complete, they were not caught, and the file of the two Nepalese men was moved separately in the court.”Chief judicial magistrate Sunil Pratap on Monday sentenced Bharose to imprisonment for four years under section 40 (2) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, for the possession and trading of leopard skin..