The accused — Dariya — was convicted on Thursday by a court in Katni in Madhya Pradesh. The accused was arrested by the Katni Forest Division on November 27, 2008, after a tip-off given by WPSI, the statement said. Tiger and leopard traps, a cheetal skin, antlers, a spear and other poaching equipments were seized from his possession following his capture.

While pronouncing the sentence, Judicial Magistrate Umar Shankar Agarwal observed that the traps appeared to have no other use than killing wild animals, as leopard hair were found on one of the traps that were confirmed by forensic experts, according to the statement.

Dariya has been previously booked in four different tiger and leopard poaching cases in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. He also served a five-and-a-half month jail term in Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh in another case in 2005.

After being released from jail, he was again wanted in another case of tiger skin seizure near the Nepal border in 2006. The tiger is thought to have been killed in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar.