T’kudi court convicts 13 for possession of sea cucumber

MADURAI: A local court in Thoothukudi convicted 13 men for illegal possession of sea cucumber, an endangered marine species, and seashells and sentenced each of the accused to undergo three years of imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, the accused were charged with the possession of a non-preserving sea cucumber that weighed around 73 kg, 32 shells of Fasciolaria Trapezium, 72 Star fish, 9 Kuthirai Mulli, 106 Siriya Kuzhi, and 1,000 Yaanai Mulli shells, a few gas cylinders and a 50-litre water-can in 2007.

Apart from these, a bike and three cell phones were also seized from the trio when Coastal Security Guards were patrolling Threspuram on February 20, 2007. They were planning sell those seized items to foreign countries in contravention of the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and amended provisions of the said Act 2002.

A total of 13 prosecution witnesses were examined and 17 exhibits were placed during the trial in the court. After hearing both sides, Judicial Magistrate-II, ST Kanimozhi, Thoothukudi on Friday found the accused guilty and awarded three-year imprisonment besides, slappng a fine of Rs 3,000 on each of them.

The convicts were Meerasa (49), Anto (68), Reegan (42), Karuppuraj (68), Fakirmaideen (53), Samsudin (43), Abbas (58), Peermaideen (41), Abdul Kather (51), Jaffer (52), Jamal (52), Kaja (58) and Alphonse (56) of Thoothukudi.