Pair of tusks seized, 9 held near Theni

Investigation under way to find out the source of the tusks

The accused persons with seized elephant tusks at Devathanapatti forest range near Kodaikanal on Sunday.

Officials of the Department of Forests on Sunday seized a pair of elephant tusks and arrested nine persons, at Devathanapatti in Theni district.

Acting on a tip-off, the officials, led by the District Forest Officer, Kodaikanal, P.K. Dileep, arrested the accused and seized the tusks.

“When we got information from the Protection and Vigilance Wing of our department that a gang was trying to sell the tusks , we rounded them up,” said Mr. Dileep.

Stating that the tusks had changed many hands in the last 10 to 15 years, Mr. Dileep said investigation was under way to ascertain the source of the tusks.