India:  A gang of three, suspected to be the accomplices of forest brigand Veerappan, was acquitted in an 18-year-old tusk smuggling case on Tuesday. The case was heard in the Sathyamangalam sub-court.
According to a court source, a special task force (STF) led by inspector F M Hussain nabbed the trio during a manhunt for Veerappan in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR) on January 27, 2000.

“STF personnel found them with as many as 12 elephant tusks at Pilvali in the Kuthiyalathur reserve forest at STR,” the official said. The team also seized a country made gun and crude bombs from the trio.
During the inquiry, the police came to know that the three - P Shanmugam, 20, K Rajendran, 22, and P Jawahar, 23, all hailing from Periyakulam - smuggled the tusks with the support of Veerappan and his accomplices Govindaraj and Chandran.

The Sathyamangalm police subsequently registered the case based on a complaint lodged by inspector Hussain and arrested the trio and launched a search for the forest brigand Veerappan and his two accomplices.

Shanmugam, Rajendran and Jawahar were initially lodged at the in Sathyamangalm sub-jail in judicial custody. Later, they were shifted to the Coimbatore Central Prison. Within two months, the trio came out on bail.

However, Veerappan, Chandran and Govindaraj died during the course of trail.

Judicial magistrate of the Sathyamangalam sub-court, K Kumarasivam, on Tuesday acquitted Shanmugam, Rajendran and Jawahar, saying the police failed to prove their involvement in the case.

(Source: The Times of India)