Coimbatore: A 60-year-old farmer was given a two-year jail sentence for electrocuting a wild elephant in the forest division here. Raju, is a farmer and native of Naickenpalayam in Periyanaickenpalayam range in the Coimbatore forest division.
Raju was arrested by forest officials under the Wildlife Act and produced at the judicial magistrate court here for electrocuting a wild tusker on March 3, 2009.
To safeguard his property from marauding wild elephants, Raju had installed a high-voltage fencing around his farmland, violating forest department rules, and the elephant was killed as it came in contact with the charged fencing.
Following a trial, the trial court magistrate in 2014 ordered Raju to undergo imprisonment for three years, but Raju went on an appeal to the district sessions court.
The trail at the sessions court recently came to an end after all the witness were produced against Raju by the public prosecutor.
Pronouncing his judgment on Tuesday noon, the magistrate awarded Raju two years of imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 5,000.
The judge also ruled an additional three months in jail, if the accused failed to comply to the court order.
