THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, Jan 28: Sleuths of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) arrested a 25-year-old youth with two elephant tusks under the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Jharkhand.
Confirming the arrest, PTR South Division Deputy Director Kumar Ashish said the WCCB team had specific inputs about the sale of tusks and successfully conducted a decoy operation.
The accused has been identified as Sachin Gupta, a resident of the Bareysarn area. Two elephant tusks, each weighing around one kilogram, were recovered from his possession.
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Sources said Gupta was familiar with the functioning of PTR teams.
Probe on Source of Tusks
Officials are investigating how Gupta obtained the tusks, from whom, and when. Efforts are also underway to ascertain which elephant the tusks belonged to.
After the arrest, the WCCB handed over the accused to PTR officials, who registered an FIR and sent him to Latehar jail.
Gupta has been booked under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act. Officials said he has no previous record of wildlife offences and was caught during his first known attempt.
Sources said Gupta tried to deny his involvement, claiming he was innocent and falsely implicated. However, WCCB officials trapped him by posing as prospective buyers of the tusks.
History of Tusk Smuggling in PTR
Trading in elephant tusks has a long history in the Palamu Tiger Reserve. In the 1990s, five tusks preserved at Betla were stolen and later recovered and returned by the then Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) in a widely reported event.
Recently, the WCCB also seized around 60 kg of pangolin scales from Bihar and Jharkhand in a major crackdown on wildlife trafficking.
