NAGPUR: Judicial magistrate first class RB Raja on Wednesday rejected the bail application of three organized tiger poachers belonging to the Baheliya community. At the same time, the court granted bail to one of the conspirators involved in making metal traps used to kill tigers.
Jiyalal Bawankar, a blacksmith who was engaged by poachers in making steel traps for the last five years, was granted bail for no direct involvement in poaching tigers. Bawankar, a resident of Buradghat village, 8km from Paratwada, was directed to submit a surety of Rs25,000.
Opposing Bawankar's bail plea, forest department counsel Kartik Shukul argued that Bawankar several metal traps made by him still needed to be recovered. The officials have recovered only one trap from him till now.
Shukul submitted that Bawankar was habitual offender and made tiger traps intentionally and hence he be treated at par with the accused poachers. However, the court said Bawankar made traps as per requirement of the accused, hence was not directly involved in tiger poaching and was entitled for bail.
The court rejected bail application of Siri, Barsul and Yarlen for their direct role in poaching. Counsel for the forest department Sunil Manohar had strongly opposed bail to all the accused who are under magisterial custody remand till August 12.
The forest department has also filed a writ petition on August 2 in the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court seeking forest custody remand (FCR) of all the poachers.
Meanwhile, one of the accused Parman Sawalkar of Masondi in Ghatang forest range in Melghat, where poachers had killed a tiger, was remanded to magisterial custody till August 12.
Although the forest department on Tuesday registered an offence in poaching of tiger last year as confessed by the poachers, it has still not come clean on registering offence in poaching of tiger in Tumsar and deal of six tiger skins by tiger skin trader from Haryana Sarju Bagdi. Although officials are aware about it, the confessions have not been taken on record, sources said.
