Koch

21 kg of Ivory seized; four held

A team of forest personnel led by M.K. Rajeev kumar, forest range officer of Periya of the North Wayanad forest division, arrested four persons at Kunhome in the district on Thursday for keeping in their possession two pieces of elephant tusk, weighing 21 kg.

The arrested were identified as K. Vinod, 30, of Ittilattil tribal hamlet; K. Raghavan, 39; K.Raju, 34; and K.Gopi, 38 of Kattiyeri tribal hamlet near Kunhome.

They had been illegally keeping the ivory for the past 18 months for sale after collecting it from the carcass of a tusker at Kolamathara forest under the North Wayanad forest division, Mr.Rajeev Kumar told The Hindu.

The officials seized the ivory kept in a tree trunk in Chappathode forest near Niravilpuzha.

Those accused were charged under various sections of the Kerala Forest Act 1961 and Wildlife Protection Act,1972, Mr. Kumar said.

The arrested persons were produced in the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court at Mananthavady,

which remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.

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