The Special Task Force (STF) along with the Karanjia forest officials apprehended one person and seized two elephant tusks during a search operation on Saturday.
As per the details given by a senior official of STF, "On the basis of reliable information, a team of STF along with the Karanjia forest officials conducted a search along the road between the villages of Patung and Kalanda under Keonjhar district found two tusks illegally possessed by Ramakanta Pradhan."
"During the search, two elephant tusks weighing 5.662 kg and other incriminating materials were recovered from Pradhan's possession. He could not produce any authority in support of the possession of the tusks," added the official.
The accused and the elephant tusks have been handed over to Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Karanjia for necessary legal action at their end, stated the STF official.
Since 2020 special drive against the wildlife criminals/poachers has been launched, the STF has seized as many as the skin of 25 leopards, 15 elephant tusks, the skin of 7 deer, 11 live pangolin, 19.5 kg of pangolin scales, 2 leopard teeth, 29 leopard claws, 46 live wild parrots and have arrested 59 wildlife criminals, told the senior official.
( With inputs from ANI )
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