Other States - Rajasthan   

Big haul of elephant tusks

Special Correspondent

JAIPUR: The Rajasthan police arrested a gang of seven here on Tuesday and confiscated elephant tusks weighing 45 kg from them.

The ivory, estimated to cost Rs.1 crore in the international market, was on its way to the local market, seemingly for use in making of handicrafts. Arunachal Pradesh is said to be the origin of the elephant tusks.

Superintendent of Police Jaipur City (South) Vishal Bansal said the ivory was recovered from two vehicles intercepted near the Martyrs' Memorial by a police team led by Circle Officer Karan Sharma in the morning.

The police acted on a tip-off, on the arrival of gang, from a special team, which was constituted at the Vidhayakpuri police station to keep a tag on illicit trade in ivory in the City.

One of the arrested, Purushottam Agarwal from Tinsukia in Assam, had allegedly couriered the ivory from Arunachal to Delhi.

After reaching Delhi by train Agarwal allegedly got his accomplice Satish Gupta to take possession of the consignment.

The two were caught with the tusks loaded in a Gypsy and an Innova along with Shankar Iyer, Dilip Singh, Lokendra Singh, Bhanwarlal and Virendra Singh.

A case has been registered under Sections 39(C), 40, 44, 49,A, B, C and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The police are expecting more arrests and further recoveries after working on the clues received.

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