Forest Department officials of Shivamogga have arrested five persons, including two from Goa, on charges of illegally transporting the ivory of Hippopotamus, not found in India.
The accused reportedly took the ivory weighing about 11 kg from an old lady in Goa and transported it to Shivamogga hoping to find a suitable buyer.
It all began with the Shivamogga Vigilance Wing of the Forest Department, led by ACF Balachandra H.C., conducting a raid at Chandragutti village in Sorab taluk on Monday. The officers had information about a group of people trying to sell ivory. The officers arrested Zakir Khan, 30, of Chandragutti, Muzaffar Hassan, 19, of Honnavara, and Mohammed Danish, 32, of Bhatkal with the ivory.
R. Ravishankar, Conservator of Forests, on Friday, told the media: “We could see that it was Hippopotamus ivory. The animal is not found in India. The three arrested were sent to judicial custody. Based on information from the arrested, a team of officials went to Goa on Wednesday for further investigation.” The team took the help of the Forest Department and the police in Goa and arrested Anil Parshekar, 30, and Vishal alias Vishnu, 30, on Thursday. Their vehicles were also seized.
From Tanzania
“During the interrogation, we found that the accused got the ivory from a lady in Goa. The two accused, who were helping the lady clean the house, found the ivory. They took it from her and contacted Mohammed Danish to find a buyer in Karnataka,” Mr. Ravishankar said.
As per the information collected from the lady, her father was working in Tanzania and he had brought the ivory to Goa in the 1960s. “We are sending the sample of the ivory to a laboratory to ascertain its age through carbon dating,” Mr. Ravishankar said. He appreciated the investigating officers and thanked the officers in Goa for their cooperation.
