Tiger poacher convicted, sentenced to three-year jail

(Representational image)

New Delhi: Notorious tiger poacher Bhima was on Tuesday convicted and awarded three-year imprisonment in a 2012 case by an environment court in Faridabad in neighbouring Haryana, officials said on Tuesday.

The special environment court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1971 in a case of seizure of tiger skin, tiger bones, ivory, and other wildlife contraband from him on August 1, 2012.

He was earlier arrested in 2005 from Bijnore in Uttar Pradesh, in 2008 from Gurugram in Haryana, in 2014 from Pauri in Uttarakhand, and in 2016 from Gurugram. 

The poacher is still under trial in other wildlife cases detected and investigated by the WCCB, New Delhi, officials said.

"Bhima is a repeat offender involved in organised wildlife crime. Bhima was first convicted by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Chamoli, on February 2002," said Tilotama Varma, Additional Director of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB).