Ivory jewellery sale on Facebook busted, 2 held in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and Telangana forest officials seized 26 pieces of ivory jewellery from a seller in Hyderabad.
Telangana forest officials have booked two traders under Wild Life Protection Act for possession of ivory products, including bangles and shirt buttons. The two - Praveen and Pandu from Charminar - would be produced before court on Monday.

Hyderabad central forest range officer Venkataiah Goud said, "WCCB did a sting operation after finding ivory jewellery for sale on FB. It led them to Hyderabad sellers. Along with anti-poaching squad and local forest staff, WCCB conducted searches and seized ivory jewellery."
Ivory jewellery demand up in domestic market
Goud said: "We will remand them on Monday after booking a case under Section 9 of the Wild Life Protection Act."
Investigation by WCCB found a pan-India network of ivory jewellery trade, where similar searches were conducted in Rajasthan, West Bengal and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Based on the confession of the duo caught in Hyderabad, WCCB is digging deep into the racket.
A forest official said that demand for ivory jewellery and other products has increased in the domestic market, whereas previously it was popular abroad.
The resurgence of ivory trade has officials now trying to link them to elephant poaching.
Bangles, shirt buttons and other products were among the seized ivory jewellery in Hyderabad.