The Special Task Force of Odisha police flanked by forest officials of Balangir forest division on Thursday arrested a man on charge of possessing six elephant tusks.
Acting on a tip-off, the STF and forest teams in a joint operation arrested Nurin Seth nearMalapda village under Bolangir police station limits during a raid and six tusks weighing 9 kilograms were seized from his possession.
A case was registered under the Wildlife Protection Act for illegal possession of wildlife articles and attempting to sell trophies of scheduled animals. He was later handed over to Bolangir forest officials for necessary legal action 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 24 elephant tusks. Besides 27 leopard skins, 7 deer skins, 13 live pangolins, 30.4 kilograms of pangolin scales, two leopard teeth, 29 leopard claws and 46 wild parrots were also confiscated and 65 wildlife criminals were arrested.