Sources told The Sentinel on Saturday that a fast track court in Golaghat district on Thursday sentenced a poacher to 7 years rigorous imprisonment for killing two rhinos in Kaziranga National Park. Additional sessions judge AU Ahmed ordered the poacher, SukdevKutum, to pay a fine of Rs 25,000.

Kutum, a resident of Dhanbari village in Golaghat district, had killed two rhinos at Muwamari forest camp in Kaziranga National Park. He then fled from his village and started living in Gogamukh in Dhemaji district. The Forest department arrested Kutum from Gogamukh on September 8 in 2016. Sukdev confessed his guilt and said he cut away rhino horns and later sold these in Dimapur at high prices.

After hearing lawyers from both sides, the judge said killing of rhinos can be stopped only if the offender is punished stringently.

“The fast-track court in Golaghat took less than eight months to complete the trial of poacher Kutum and hand down punishment. Earlier, trial of similar such cases used to take years due to various reasons. The development is very encouraging for those who are fighting to prevent rhino poaching. The order of 7 years rigorous imprisonment to poacher Kutum will create a sense of fear among other poachers,” the source said.

Sources said many other fast-track courts in the State have completed trials of wildlife crime cases, particularly related to rhino poaching, and will pronounce punishment against offenders soon.

In January this year, the Assam government had set up 10 fast-track courts in Golaghat, Jorhat, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Nagaon, Sonitpur, Barpeta, Cachar, Darrang and Udalguri districts, where national parks and most wildlife sanctuaries are located — with an aim to expedite wildlife crime cases, especially rhino poaching.

The fast-track courts were set up after Gauhati High Court designated the seniormost additional sessions judge in the 10 districts for faster disposal of cases under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and other offences related to forests.

“Poor conviction of wildlife crime committers was a fact. We are now determined to reverse the trend. Lack of investigating officer has been a constraint, delaying the probes and weakening cases. The department is now engaging its own investigating officers as the police is overburdened with other matters,” a Forest department official said.

Conservationists attribute the poor conviction rate to tardy investigation and prosecution, as well as lack of coordination between police and the Forest department. The Kaziranga National Park authorities in a report published in 2014 mentioned that poor preservation of the crime scene, tampering of evidence and removal of fingerprints make it difficult to secure proper convictions.