Baripada: Ivory, weighing over 30 kg, was seized and 10 persons were arrested over past one week as multi-agency squad of the Wildlife Wing of Forest Department busted a ring of poachers and smugglers of hunted elephants in Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district.
The arrests were made by a joint team of Similipal Tiger Protection Force (STPF), Joint Task Force (JTF) and multiple wildlife divisions of the department and the wildlife divisions of Rairangpur and Puri.
The breakthrough came with the arrest of four persons with 18 kg ivory at Jashipur. Their interrogation led the team to a middleman operating in Puri. He was later apprehended by the JTF and Puri wildlife division. The information extracted from the middleman led to another seizure of 12.9 kg ivory at Karanjia through a decoy operation. Five poachers were later arrested from the bordering areas of STR.
Initial investigation revealed the tusks were recovered from elephants poached in Similipal in the last one year.
The ten arrested have been identified as Ghasiram Jerai (45), Anand Kerai (55), Shibsankar Banara (55), Chau Alda (35), Dabara Badra (45), Berga Badra (21), Papulu Badra (22), Sanatan Badra (24), Markand Ho (23) and Narendra Banara (53). While three of them belong to Khejuri village of Similipal, one is from Bisoi and six from Jashipur area.
Bows and arrows seized from them suggested they used organic poison to hunt wild animals, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Susanta Nanda told TNIE.
