RAIPUR: The chief judicial magistrate court in Jagdalpur, south Chhattisgarh, rejected the bail plea of eight persons who were arrested after tiger skin and bones were confiscated from them on March 11.
The court observed that the killing of a tiger, the national animal and one of the endangered species, is a grave offence.
Judge Balram Dewangan dismissed the bail plea of the accused including five policemen and two government health workers.
“The accused hold government post which they had misused. The declining tiger population already remains a matter of concern,” the judge further averred.
The court has sent all the accused to judicial remand till March 27.
The big cat population in the state has gone down by 59 percent from 46 in 2014 to 19 in 2018, according to the latest official reports. And the state forest department too admitted the situation is too depressing for Chhattisgarh.