The Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha police on Wednesday arrested a wildlife criminal on charges of possessing elephant tusk in Angul district.
Acting on a tip-off, the STF officials flanked by forest personnel arrested Sudar Naik and seized an elephant tusk during the raid in Antulia village under Angul Forest Division jurisdiction.
A case was registered under the Wildlife Protection Act for illegal possession of wildlife articles and attempting to sell the trophy of the scheduled animal.
The accused persons could not produce any valid authority in support of the possession of such wildlife trophies. Later they were remanded to judicial custody under sections 379/411 Indian Penal Code and section-51 of Wildlife Protection Act.
The seized elephant tusk is being sent to Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun for chemical examination. Further investigation of the matter is continuing.
“Since the past one year, STF in a special drive against wildlife criminals has confiscated ten elephant tusks till date. Besides, 18 leopard skins, two deer skins, five live pangolins, and 15 kg pangolin scales have also been seized in the last 12 months while 37 offenders have been taken into custody in this connection”, STF Deputy General of Police Jay Narayan Pankaj.