Umred court rejects poacher Ajit, Sarju's bail plea

NAGPUR: An Umred court on Tuesday rejected bail applications of dreaded tiger poacher Ajit Chhiyalal Rajgond from Katni and tiger skin and body parts trader Suraj Bhan alias Sarju Bagdi.
Ajit is an organized tiger poacher and he along with his brother Keru killed two tigers in Umred in May 2013. Ajit was arrested dramatically from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh in September last while Keru managed to escape.
One of the tigers killed is suspected to be popular male tiger Chaitram from Umred-Karhandla wildlife sanctuary. The two tiger skins from Umred were transported by Sarju and his accomplice Naresh Lala from Umred to Delhi in June.
Aniruddha Jaltare, counsel for Ajit, had filed bail application on July 7, while PS Sontakke, counsel for Sarju, had filed it on July 15. Both confirmed the bail applications were rejected but said they had not gone through the order.
Sarju's bail application was allowed by a Delhi court recently but it has been rejected twice — once by a Nagpur court and now in Umred. Ajit's bail has also been rejected twice. Sarju has once gain filed bail application in Nagpur court. The matter is slated for August 14.
Sontakke said, "We will challenge the Umred court's order in sessions court at Nagpur. There is no evidence to show that Sarju trafficked two tiger skins as charged."
He added our prayer was that charge sheet had already been filed and Sarju had been granted bail by a Delhi court. Besides, trial would take time and hence bail should be granted.
On the contrary, special counsel for forest department Kartik Shukul argued that the crime had been corroborated by call detail records (CDRs) and confessional statements of the accused. Besides, there was seizure of steel trap laid to kill the tiger in Umred.
Shukul had argued that if the accused were let off, they would influence other accused who were wanted by the forest department. Till now 25 accused have been nabbed by the department and 31 are still absconding.