Police seize tusks worth Rs 66 lakh; 1 held

MANGALORE: Personnel of Dakshina Kannada district police recovered ivory tusks weighing 19 kg valued at Rs 66 lakh from Devachalla village under Subramanya police station limits on Wednesday and arrested one person in this connection. The arrested has been indentified as Krishnaprasad of Jalsoor village in Sullia taluk. Police are on the lookout for five others who escaped into the forest area surrounding the village.

Based on a tip-off about a group trying to illegally sell tusks weighing 3-6 kg, Sullia CPI Sudarshan posing as a dealer in ivory tusks contacted one of the accused and fixed a meeting place with him. When he reached the spot with a few locals and tried to strike a deal, the group that had the tusks got suspicious and fled. Police, however, managed to nab Krishnaprasad and recovered the tusks from him. Police also seized a jeep, two motorcycles and a Maruti Omni.

Sudarshan said police are on the lookout for the remaining accused.

Krishnaprasad has been remanded to judicial custody. A case under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 has been registered in Subrahmanya police station and further investigations are on.