French charged with wildlife theft let off with fine

Gangtok, July 26: Three French nationals charged with violating wildlife laws in the northeastern state of Sikkim were let off with a fine, saving them from punishment of up to three years in jail, officials Thursday said.

A government official said the youths - two boys and a girl in their early 20s - were held by forest wardens over the weekend from near the Budang reserved forest, about 100 km west of Sikkim's capital Gangtok.

"The trio were held with about 41 insects ranging from rare species of butterflies to moths. They also possessed equipment for collecting and catching insects," Sikkim's chief wildlife warden N. Bhutia told IANS.

The three youths who claimed to be students from the University de Corte and hailing from Corsica in France pleaded innocent saying they were not aware of local laws.

Under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, anybody found killing or trying to smuggle out, endangered species from reserved forest areas could face a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

"The crime they committed by catching insects from the forest could have landed them behind bars. But we deported them to the adjoining West Bengal state Wednesday after imposing a fine of Rs. 25,000 each after detaining them for four days," the warden said.

Bhutia said the government decided to "relax" the punishment, as the three were young.

"They were all very young students and we decided against taking harsh action purely on humanitarian grounds," the warden said.

Comments

History on Easter Sunday and Padari Ganga Prasad Pradhan

By Seira Tamang As noted by various scholars, Hinduism, the Nepali language, the monarchy and a rastriya itihas (a chronicle of progress in which the dark era of Rana rule is contrasted with the enlightened, progressive and modern period of Panchayat rule) formed the core of the Panchayat regime’s national culture. The formation and consolidation of this national culture have required the expunging of uncomfortable facts and stories that might raise ambiguities and questions. While the selection of what and who is and is not acknowledged to exist (or at least exist in historically important ways) in official Nepali history is complex, social scientists have begun to provide more comprehensive historical accounts of the past through oral histories and re-readings of historical documents. Such accounts reveal how ordinary people lived in the past, and offer ways to think through how ‘history’ is crafted, shaped and managed in order to reflect ‘the reality’ best suited to the status quo, ...

Shapi of Sikkim: Our legacy -iii

A Sikkimese with a Shapi The two previous articles I wrote in my earlier edition on Shapi were wonderful to read for people around, and appreciation had been received from different corners of the state. I am thankful and find pleasure in people finding joy in my findings and research work. It was a bit surprising that very few had heard about Shapi, our rare legacy. Nevertheless, I am happy to be part of history for re-introducing Shapi to those sections of my readers who had never heard about this old and sacred mountain mammal, a native of Sikkim. I dedicate my writing on Shapi to Ongden Daju (RO), who has been very supportive of me ever since I first published its first part a few months back. It was he who wanted me to continue with the third part of Shapi since more findings were evolving after my two writings. I shall always remain grateful to JR Subba, Jt Director from the Forest Department, for providing me with a valuable census report of Shapi done by the Department...

Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, with his mother Queen Mother Denzong Lhayumkusho and Prince Wangchuk of Sikkim

The late Jungkyang Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal, seated with his mother Queen Mother Denzong Lhayumkusho, daughter of Rakasha family of Tibet, and Prince Wangchuk whose late mother hails from the Samdrup Phodrang family of Tibet. Standing next to Denzong Queen Mother is the senior Rakasha Lhachamkusho, daughter of Raja Tsodrak Namgyal Taring of Sikkim, the eldest son of Chogyal Thutop Namgyal, who gave up the Sikkimese throne to his younger brother Sir Chogyal Tashi Namgyal in favour of staying in Tibet. The Taring family of Tibet enabled into Tibetan high society by the great 13th Dalai Lama, is legitimately the unbroken elder line of the Royal Namgyal lineage of Sikkim, since Raja Tsodrak Namgyal was the Crown Prince of Sikkim, and his sons and grandsons today go by the Taring family name. Standing in the picture is also Princess Kukula, sister of the Chogyal married to the Phuenkhang family of Tibet. Rakasha Tsetop, Rakasha Tseten, Yap Dr. Paljor, Soden Wangdi, Chimi ...

Proud to be a Sikkimese: Sikkim Travel, Culture & Local Heritage

Search This Blog