Acting on a tip-off, the STF and forest teams in a joint operation arrested Ramakanta Pradhan near Patung village under Keonjhar Sadar police station jurisdiction during a raid and a pair of tusks weighing 5.662 kilograms was seized from his possession.
Representation image (Photo: SNS)
The Special Task Force of Odisha police flanked by forest officials of Karanjia forest division on Sunday arrested a man on the charge of possessing a pair of elephant tusks.
Acting on a tip-off, the STF and forest teams in a joint operation arrested Ramakanta Pradhan near Patung village under Keonjhar Sadar police station jurisdiction during a raid, and a pair of tusks weighing 5.662 kilograms was seized from his possession.
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A case was registered under the Wildlife Protection Act for illegal possession of wildlife articles and attempting to sell trophies of scheduled animals.
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The accused person could not produce any valid authority in support of the possession of such wildlife trophies. Later he was remanded to judicial custody under sections 379/411 Indian Penal Code and section-51 of Wildlife Protection Act.
The seized elephant tusks are being sent to Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun for chemical examination. Further investigation of the matter is continuing.
Since 2020, the STF stepping up the drive to curb wildlife crimes has made a seizure of 15 elephant tusks. Besides 25 leopard skins, 7 deer skins, 11 live pangolins, 19.5 kilograms of pangolin scales, two leopard teeth, 29 leopard claws, and 46 wild parrots were also confiscated and 59 wildlife criminals were arrested.
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