Guwahati, Dec 28: Five residents of Assam arrested for smuggling elephant tusks were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for three years by a local court at Jalpaiguri in North Bengal on Wednesday.
Jagannath Mondal, Chandan Biswas, Ratneswar Barman, Tilak Barman and Sanjoy Barman, who are from Assam, were carrying tusks in a car headed towards Siliguri in June this year.
Those arrested, however, filed bail petitions at the Jalpaiguri circuit bench of Calcutta High Court.
Also Read: Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma refutes chopper procurement, urges media accuracy
The high court, however, rejected the petition and assigned the CJM court to conduct the trial within three months.
After getting tip-off information, a team of foresters led by Niladri Kishore Roy intercepted the car near the toll plaza on NH27 at Fatapukur which is between Siliguri and Jalpaiguri.
As they searched the vehicle, they found four tusks, two long and two short, in a bag.
All five occupants of the car were arrested.
The CJM court sentenced all five of them to three years of rigorous imprisonment.
“Each person was also fined Rs 25,000. If they fail to pay this sum, they will have to spend another six months in imprisonment,” said a public prosecutor.
Read: Assam: Assam police institutes enquiry into death of Dipankar Gogoi
WATCH:
Also, Follow us on-
Twitter-twitter.com/nemediahub
Youtube channel- www.youtube.com/@NortheastMediaHub2020
Instagram- www.instagram.com/nemediahub
