A gang of poachers, who allegedly killed three elephants in Anchetti forest area in Tamil Nadu two months back, was nabbed by the Bangalore district police on Saturday. One of the alleged poachers, intent on selling the tusks, walked into a police trap at a local market in Chandapura. Three pairs of tusks were recovered from their possession.
A police team, led by subinspector S.D. Shashidhar, posed as prospective customers in a well-executed decoy operation and nabbed gang member Murugan. He was carrying tusks weighing 5.5 kg. Based on his confession, police arrested other gang members Chandraiah (20), Basavaraj (38), Basavalingappa (35), Krista Das (49), Shekhar (45) and Antony Swamy (43).
The police have also recovered a single barrel gun, a helmet and six machetes. The police are verifying whether the arrested persons were involved in similar cases earlier.