ERODE: A court here today acquitted three close associates of slain sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, in connection with an ivory smuggling case, in 2000.
It also said charges against three others including Veerappan stand abated, in view of their death.
Sathyamangalam Magistrate K Kumarasivam acquitted all three, saying there was no proper evidence against the accused.
Veerappan and two other accused died during the trial of the case.
According to the prosecution, on January 27, 2000, a team of Special Task Force personnel while conducting a search operation in Guthiyalathur forest found some people moving in the area with tusks.
The officials then arrested three people, Rajendran, Jawahar and Shanmugam, all close associates of Veerappan and seized 12 well grown tusks from them.
A case was registered against six persons including Veerappan, in this connection.
However, the police could not arrest Veerappan, Chandran and Govindaraj.
The accused were produced in the court amid tight security arrangements.
Veerappan, who ruled over forest areas in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala for more than two decades, was killed in an encounter with the STF personnel of Tamil Nadu police, in 2004.