A Lusaka businessman in Zambia has gone missing shortly after court sentenced  him five years imprisonment with hard labor for illegal possession of a pangolin.

The incident occurred last Monday after Lusaka magistrate Mutinta Mwenya sentenced Isaac Nkhata, 44, and his two co-accused for unlawful possession of a protected animal.

After the sentencing, the three convicts were in the dock, which has an adjacent door that leads to various areas, including the magistrate’s chambers, other courtrooms, toilets, and a tunnel leading to a holding cell. However, Nkhata, of Kamwala South, allegedly used the exit door in the dock to leave the courtroom and never returned.

A source, suspecting foul play, revealed to the Daily Mail that it might have been assumed Nkhata had left to use the lavatory, providing an opportunity for his escape. Authorities are now conducting investigations to locate the missing convict.