Three arrested with elephant tusks in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: The Special Task Force (STF) of Crime Branch on Monday arrested three persons from Keonjhar for alleged involvement in wildlife trafficking and seized two elephant tusks and one leopard hide from them.

Acting on a tip-off about a planned wildlife trade, the agency sleuths raided a place near Keonjhar RTO and nabbed Sheikh Hasmati Ali and Chandrakant Dhal of Karanjia in Mayurbhanj along with Malaya Kumar Rout of Keonjhar’s Janghira.

STF officers said initial investigation suggested that the accused were middlemen and possibly procured the tusks and leopard hide from Mayurbhanj or Keonjhar district. Probe is on to ascertain the exact details, they said.

“A case has been registered under sections 379 and 411 of IPC and section 51 of Wildlife (Protection) Act. The seized tusks and leopard hide will be sent to Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun for further examination,” said a senior STF officer.  

Last year, the STF had seized seven leopard skins, two deer hides, 5 kg pangolin scales and rescued two live pangolins. Of the seven leopard hides, the agency believes, two each were killed in Daspalla and Ranpur in Nayagarh and one each in Bargarh, Sonepur and Mayurbhanj districts.