Four wildlife smugglers held in Assam

KOKRAJHAR: A wildlife trade racket has been busted in Assam's Kokrajhar district with the arrest of four smugglers who used to tranship elephants through inter-state border with forged documents, police said.

A staggering number of 91 elephants had been illegally traded through the state on different occasions in the past one year, they said.

The matter came into light following the interrogation of a person named Rabindra Singh, who was arrested on October 29 at Srirampur check gate along the Assam-Bengal border.

Acting on his inputs, three smugglers were picked up from different parts of Assam today, Kokarjhar SP P K Dutta said.

The arrested smugglers were identified as Krishna Mohan Singh, Ganesh Tiwari and Durga Kutum, he said.

Police are also investigating the possibility of connivance of a section of government employees in the illegal practice, he said.