Guest guest Posted September 11, 2003 Report Share Posted September 11, 2003 Convicts avert gallows for prosecution's indifference A court yesterday jailed five people for 14 years and fined them Tk 20,000 each for poisoning to death four Royal Bengal Tigers at Dhaka Zoo in the first-ever verdict on the killing of animals in Bangladesh. The five killed the tigers in November 1996 out of desperation to halt a transfer of 32 zoo staffers, the Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Habibur Rahman said in 'a lenient verdict'. The judge said he was unable to hand down death sentence to the convicts, although sections 15 (1) (3) and 25 (D) of the Special Powers Act, 1974 prescribe death penalty for such a crime. Rahman said he handed down lenient punishment to the accused because of their longtime harassment and blamed the leniency on 'neglect and indifference' of the prosecution for seven years. The judge summoned witnesses in the case through the home secretary on different dates, but they did not appear before court on time, lingering the case. A butcher bought poison and meat from outside the zoo on November 8, 1996 and fed three tigers on poisoned food after entering their cages with an animal caretaker, according to one of the confessional statements by another caretaker Alek Chand, now cleared of the charges. One of the tigers died the following day, another two on November 11 and a cub died from suffocation on November 13 after sucking toxic milk of its mother. Ashfaqul Wahab Dhaka Bangladesh ===== Ashfaqul Wahab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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