Bareilly (UP), Sep 18 (PTI) In a strategic undercover operation, the Special Task Force (STF) of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, along with the Forest Department, arrested three inter-state wildlife poachers who were allegedly caught with two elephant tusks valued at Rs 1 crore, officials said Wednesday.
According to Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Vijay Kumar, the operation was meticulously planned to combat wildlife trafficking and was undertaken on Tuesday night in the CB Ganj police station area of Bareilly.
He said, under the direction of Uttarakhand DGP Abhinav Kumar, the STF had been monitoring the movement of criminals involved in the illegal trade of protected wildlife parts along the UP-Uttarakhand border.
“The operation involved STF officials posing as potential buyers, allowing them to infiltrate the poaching network. They managed to arrange a meeting with the suspects, who were travelling across districts to find buyers for the tusks,” he said.
Inspector MP Singh of the STF said one of the arrested individuals, Natha Singh, had been a caretaker at the Nanak Mata Gurudwara for over 12 years.
“During questioning, Singh admitted to his involvement in the trafficking operation. Alongside him, Aditya Vikram from Green Park, Bareilly, and Karan Singh from Baradari were apprehended with tusks measuring over three feet in length,” he said.
According to police, the smugglers were roaming from one district to another to sell the ivory, which they wanted to sell for Rs 1 crore.
On getting a tip-off, the STF posed as a buyer and struck a deal and the alleged smugglers got trapped, leading to the recovery of two 3.25-feet-long ivories, police said.
The poachers had found buyers for up to Rs 70 lakh for the ivory weighing seven kilos, but they allegedly wanted to sell it for at least Rs 1 crore, police said, adding they kept looking for prospective buyers.
According to police, the ivories were brought by accused Aditya Vikram, but the deal was being finalised by Natha Singh. Aditya first made an “excuse” that the ivory was ancestral and belonged to his maternal grandfather, who gave it to him, police added.
Police said they believed the accused killed an elephant and extracted the ivories, adding that an investigation is ongoing into the matter.
According to officials, a whole ivory is sold for up to Rs 1 crore in the black market and its price can go up to Rs 2 crore.
Ivories are soft and are used in making jewelleries and statues. PTI COR KIS MNK MNK
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