New Delhi  - Two Czech nationals have been sentenced by a local court in India for illegally collecting rare species of insects from a national park, news reports said Thursday.

Petr Svecha, an entomologist, was fined 20,000 rupees (444 US dollars) while Emil Kucera, a forest official was sentenced to three years' simple imprisonment and a fine of
60,000 rupees by a magistrate in eastern West Bengal's state's Darjeeling town on Wednesday, The Telegraph newspaper reported.

The two men had been arrested outside the Singalila National Park in Darjeeling district on June 22 by West Bengal forest officials who had seized beetles, butterflies and other insects from them along with equipment.

They were charged with violating India's Wildlife Protection Act and Biological Diversity Act. Forest officials said the Czechs had not secured the required clearances to collect insects for scientific study.

The two men said they had not been collecting the insects for commercial purposes and had not entered the national park.

The chief judicial magistrate of Darjeeling district found them guilty on September 8. In his sentence, announced on Wednesday, magistrate UK Nandy said that Svecha was given a lighter punishment taking into consideration his stature in his field of study and said he was a "victim of circumstance."

But similar leniency could not be shown to Kucera, the magistrate said. Kucera was given bail and his lawyer was quoted as saying that his client would appeal against the decision at a higher court.

While Svecha was free to move anywhere in India, Kucera would have to remain within Darjeeling district and their passports would remain with the court till the appeal was filed, The Telegraph reported. (dpa)