KOZHIKODE: The Thamarasserry Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-II has sentenced Thamarasserry forest range officer (FRO) for three months’ simple imprisonment for assaulting an accused in the sensational case of killing five Nilgiri Langur. The court verdict came on July 9.The incident took place on February 16, 2016, wherein the then Thamarasserry Deputy FRO and now FRO Rajeev Kumar M K along with three forest guards physically assaulted Puthuppadi Mayilallampara native Varghese (58).
As per the complaint of Varghese’s son Sajo Varghese, Rajeev Kumar and others physically assaulted Varghese on the day his father was remanded in Kozhikode special sub-jail. “Instead of taking my father to jail he was taken to the forest office and assaulted. Varghese, who collapsed following the assault, was then rushed to Thamarasserry taluk hospital and then to Kozhikode MCH,” said the complainant. The FRO pleaded innocent in the incident. The case of forest guards was split to be considered separately.
Varghese was the second accused in the incident of killing five Nilgiri Langur from Appikod in Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary on December 29, 2015. The Langur, which comes under schedule 1 of the Wildlife (protection) Act- 1972 was killed to sell its flesh as sex stimulant. The 5department had arrested nine poachers in the incident, a racket which sells the meat, skull and skin of Nilgiri Langur as sex stimulant on the basis of an entrenched myth.
Meanwhile, the court sentence against FRO has left forest staff completely disheartened. They say that the poachers who killed an endangered species were easily bailed out but the forest officer was targeted Thamarasserry range is infamous for poachers and a poacher had killed a forest officer here. Forest officer P Devadas was shot by a poacher Kootala Mammad on March 25, 2010, at Kolamala and he succumbed to injuries in hospital.