GUWAHATI:
A local court of Assam’s Golaghat district awarded two years imprisonment to two former legislators and three others persons for illegal angling inside Kaziranga National Park (KNP) and physically assaulting a forest ranger, under the Wildlife Protection Act 1971, on March 5.
The court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge of Golaghat, Kaushik Hazarika, on Saturday, also clamped a fine of Rs 5, 000 on the two former independent legislators – Jiten Gogoi and Kushak Gogoi – from Bokakhat and Thowra, respectively, in the 10-year-old case. The other three persons are Tarun Bora, Dambarudhar Gogoi and Babu Gogoi.
Jiten and Kushal, carrying assault rifles, had forcibly entered KNP on March 9, 2009. The accused also beat up some forest officials, including a ranger, Dambarudhar Boro, before ransacking the Park’s properties after they were denied permission for fishing in the park.
Boro had later filed a police case against them and they were sentenced by the court on Saturday.
All the five convicted in the case are on bail and will not have to go behind bars immediately as the term awarded to them is less than three years.