Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh): Twelve Pardhi accomplices of wildlife trader Shabbir Hasan Qureshi were pronounced guilty of abetting illegal trade of tiger parts, by a city Court in Allahabad, today. They have been sentenced to three-years’ imprisonment along with a fine of 10,000 rupees each.

The Special Court [UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act cases] held the tribespeople, including 10 women and two men, guilty for their roles as carriers of the contraband as well as for assisting illegal trade in a cross-state nexus.

The dozen were arrested from the residence of Qureshi in Allahabad on December 4, 2007, in a raid conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force. Qureshi, his two sons – Sarfaraz and Siraz – as well as another accomplice Mohd Ayub were also arrested during the raid. Three tiger skins and 75 kgs of tiger bones among other wildlife articles were recovered.

The tribespeople, believed to hail from Katni in Madhya Pradesh, were denied bail at the behest of the prosecution led by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

“They were concealing their true names and addresses. They would be virtually untraceable if they jumped bail and escaped, so their bail was vehemently opposed, and successfully averted. They have been given a sentence of three years which means that they will be under arrest till December this year,” said Arvind Kumar Tripathi, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) lawyer who has been assisting the prosecution through the trial and had played a significant role in the bail being denied for all of the 16 accused.

“The case had four witnesses including CP Sharma, expert from Wildlife Institute of India, Arvind Chaturvedi, DSP, STF, PK Mishra, Inspector, STF, and Balasubramaniam, Inspector, CBI, who gave clinching evidence of the involvement of these Pardhi tribespeople,” said Saurabh Sharma, WTI lawyer.

The trial had begun as a combined one involving all of the 16 accused including Qureshi. However, as Qureshi’s tactics kept the case lingering, the tribespeople requested for their case to be separated and pleaded guilty. The dissociation was eventually granted in June 2009.

“Pardhi is a nomadic tribe hailing from Central India. Pardhi tribespeople have excellent tracking skills and a deep understanding of forests that is truly envy-generating. They were declared a ‘criminal tribe’ by the British, and this tag just lingered on. However, they are just regular people trying to survive using their only resource… their inherent extraordinary natural history skills. Unfortunately for the country, wildlife traders like Qureshi reached them first. These traders have exploited the skills of Pardhis for their benefits, which has caused further damage to the reputation of this tribe. Personally, I think wildlife conservation would benefit a great deal with this community in our side. Still, if a person has committed an offence, he will be punished as any offender under the law regardless of the background,” opined Jose Louies, Assistant Manager, WTI.

Meanwhile, the Court will continue to separately hear the case of Qureshi, Sarfaraz, Siraz and Ayub.

Qureshi, has earlier been sentenced to three years imprisonment for wildlife trade in Katni, Madhya Pradesh, and is one of the key accused in the infamous Khaga seizure. Considered among the top wildlife offenders in the country, Qureshi is also known to have links with Sansar Chand and is known to have been involved or heading a number of international wildlife trade rackets.