Darjeeling court convicts two Czech entomologists

Darjeeling, Sept : A Darjeeling Court on Wednesday fined a Czech entomologist 20,000 rupees and sentenced his colleague to three years in prison for collecting insects like butterflies without the state government's permission and for exploiting the catch commercially.

Chief Judicial Magistrate U.K. Nandy convicted Petr Svacha and his colleague Emil Kucera under the Wildlife Protection Act and the Biodiversity Act.

Kucera, who has been given bail, was also fined Rupees 55,000.

Czech Ambassador to India Hynek Kmonicek said that Kucera would appeal to the higher court.

"We respect the judgement, it's not for the ambassador to comment on the judgment. The accused will appear before higher court, which stays inside the India legal system and that's as it should be," he said.

Svacha and Kucera were detained in June this year close to the Singalia National Park, near Darjeeling, for illegally possessing over 200 specimens of rare insects.

ANI