Photo: Shivaram Subramaniam. Seasoned poachers from Biruhali in Madhya Pradesh, the duo were arrested in 2013 and have been lodged in Nagpur Central Jail ever since. Call Detail Records from their phones revealed that Sarju Bagdi, an infamous middleman in the illegal tiger crime syndicate, knew the two.
In April 2014, Mamru and Chika claimed to be underage at the time of committing the crime they were charged with, and asked to be tried under the Juvenile Justice Act. The two submitted their birth certificates as proof of their claim. The F.D. insisted that the certificates were invalid and requested that the authority that issued the certificates be called to be cross-examined. The Court allowed the F.D. to examine the Sub-Registrar of Biruhali who had issued the certificates while also ordering an ossification test to determine the age of the two under trial. Interestingly, even as the Sub-Registrar admitted that the birth certificates were invalid, the report of the ossification test declared the young men as juveniles. However, a duly constituted Medical Board did not issue the report, and on hearing Shukul's argument the Court directed that the test be redone. This time around, a Medical Board comprising six doctors declared the poachers to be juveniles.
Aggrieved by the new report, the F.D. applied for permission to cross-examine the doctors to challenge the contents of the new report. During cross examination, four of the six doctors categorically admitted to the Court that the report submitted was incorrect, while the other two admitted that it may be inaccurate. When questioned by Shukul on the latest method of ossification, root formation, development of the skull, and fusion of bones, members of the Medical Board confessed that from the tests of the two accused it was clear that they were over 21 years as of April 15, 2015. This means that at the time of their arrest, the two were 19 years old and thus adults.
The final arguments on the case were heard in March 2016, with Special Counsel Shukul reiterating the invalidity of the birth certificates and reports submitted to the Court. On April 13, 2016, Chief Judicial Magistrate A.A. Dhumne rejected Mamru and Chika's application, and declared them to be adults at the time of committing the crime, ultimately putting an end to the poachers' bid for an easy trial.
Read More: Chasing Chacha: How India's Most Notorious Tiger-Parts Trader Since Sansar Chand Was Put Behind Bars.
