The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : Elephant tusks seized in Kochi

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Wednesday, Dec 02, 2009
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Elephant tusks seized in Kochi

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: The police on Tuesday arrested four persons for attempting to sell two ivories estimated to cost Rs.50 lakh in the international market.

Aziz, 32, of Puliyakunnu Veedu, Vettikadu, Perinthalmanna; Lakshmanan, 30, Kavannayil Veedu, Theyilakkadu, Perinthalmanna; Fazal, 32, Pulladikundil Veedu, Kanjirakkunnu, Perinthalmanna; and Vimal, 28, Dwaraka, Theyilakkadu, Perinthalmanna, were arrested in an operation led by P.M. Varghese, Assistant Commissioner, Thrikkakara, and V.G. Raveendranath, Circle Inspector, Ernakulam Town South.

The accused were in the city to sell two ivories weighing nearly 25 kg. On the basis of a tip-off to City Police Commissioner Manoj Abraham, Mr. Varghese and Mr. Raveendranath approached the accused under the guise of prospective buyers.

A deal was struck at Rs.10 lakh before the accused were arrested near the Panampilly Nagar branch of the Union Bank. Two cars used by the accused were also taken into custody. The police are on the look out for Mohammed Ali, also from Perinthalmanna, who is believed to be the leader of the group.

On interrogation, the accused confessed to collecting the ivory pieces from two persons at Cherpulassery. It is suspected that the ivories were originally from Hassan district in Karnataka and the accused might have got hold of it from the reserve forests near the district.

Lakshmanan, who is employed at the High Court Advocates’ Association, brought others to the city for selling it. The cars belonged to Aziz, who is a leader of the Muslim League in Malappuram.

The accused were produced before the Ernakulam Magistrate Court and the case was handed over to the Department of Forest. Police officials said it was a rare seizure as, usually, ivory was cut to shorter pieces for selling. Initial examinations showed that the ivories were extracted from an elephant that died within a year.

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