Three held for ivory possession

The Hindu

Bangalore, 24 October 2010: The Bangalore Forest Department’s Mobile Squad on Saturday arrested three men for illegal possession of ivory and its attempted sale in Sathanur near Kanakapura. The men are Shankara (36) of Madiwala, Raja (30) of Kabbliyanadoddi and Beerappa of Beerayanadoddi.

 

The squad is looking for Nanjundaswamy, an accomplice of the accused, and Tammanna, a tribal community member from Bilikallu in Tamil Nadu, who are believed to have delivered the ivory.

 

Deputy Conservator of Forests K.B. Manjunath said the squad, which was tipped off, set a trap and met with the accused in Sathanur with Rs. 2 lakh. While the three were arrested, Nanjundaswamy managed to escape.

 

 

The Forest Department personnel recovered two tusks — each a metre long and weighing 7 kg. Mr. Manjunath said the tusks seem to have been removed from a 35-year-old elephant in the forests of Tamil Nadu. “The tusks changed several hands before they reached the accused who claim to have got them from Tammanna, a Soliga from Bilikallu.”

 

Saturday’s arrest comes just 15 days after the squad apprehended four persons in the city for alleged illegal possession of sand boa. So far the squad, which covers five districts and Bangalore city, has registered 131 cases related to forest crime.