Man trying to sell tusks arrested in Vadodara

VADODARA: The forest department has arrested a man who was trying to sell two elephant tusks in the city. Vinayak Purohit, a resident of Subhanpura, was nabbed after forest officials received information about his plans to sell the tusks. The forest officials set up a trap and sent a decoy customer to meet Purohit on Wednesday.
The meeting was arranged at the house of Vinoo Darbar who is a friend of Purohit. As soon as Purohit showed the tusks, forest officials raided the spot and nabbed him. They also seized the tusks that weigh about 2.5 kilograms each and are three-and-half-feet long. Purohit wanted to sell them off for Rs 1.5 crore.
Forest officials questioned Purohit about the source of the tusks. “He claimed that the tusks were part of his family’s ancestral property. He said that his grandfather had brought the tusks from Africa in 1964. But we are verifying his claims,” said Nidhi Dave, range forest officer, Vadodara. Forest officials suspect that Purohit, who works as a driver, may be part of some gang that deals in elephant tusks or he may be connected with poachers too.
When asked why he wanted to sell off the tusks suddenly, Purohit couldn’t give satisfactory reply to the forest officials. The tusks will now be examined to ascertain if they are authentic. While Darbar is absconding, a local court has sent Purohit to judicial custody.