Bhubaneswar: The Judicial Magistrate First Class court in Banpur of Khordha convicted a man and sentenced him to three years of rigorous imprisonment under Section 51 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
The court also directed Ratnakar Sahoo of Padmapur under Banpur police limits in Khurdha to pay a fine of Rs 10,000.
The Special Task Force (STF) in Bhubaneswar had apprehended Sahoo on December 29, 2021, while he was waiting to deliver a leopard skin to a customer near Gambharimunda. The STF recovered the skin and later sent it to the Wild Life Institute of India in Dehradun for examination.
During the trial, the prosecution presented 10 witnesses and 24 documents. Notably, this marks the tenth conviction secured by the STF under the Wildlife Protection Act, with all ten cases resulting in conviction.
