Two arrested near Red Fort with ivory worth Rs 70 lakh (India)

Author(s)

Times of India

Date Published
NEW DELHI: Two men were arrested with ivory worth Rs 70 lakh which they were trying to sell to foreigners near Red Fort.

Jaspal Singh (38) and Mahender Kumar (54) had got the pieces of ivory in March from a transporter based in Tri Nagar, police said. Four elephant tusks were found in their car.

Around 3pm, the duo came near the Sunhari Masjid in a Xylo, police said. While Mahender went out with a tusk to lure customers, Jaspal waited inside the car with the rest of the ivory.

A police team, led by ACP Kotwali Sagar Singh Kalsi and SHO Kotwali Pramod Gupta, along with officials from the wildlife department, found Mahender roaming around with the tusk wrapped in a jute bag and questioned him about it. He first tried to mislead the police but later broke down and admitted to the crime. He even told them that Jaspal was waiting in the car. Both of them could not provide any document to prove that they possessed the ivory legally.

On sustained interrogation, both the accused told the police that they had got the four pieces of ivory from a transporter, who claimed that he had got it from a poacher in Assam.

Police said Jaspal and Mahender owned garments shops in the Old Sabzi Mandi area. They added that the accused wanted to make easy money.

A case was registered under the Wildlife Protection Act. Police are now looking for the transporter who had supplied the ivory to Mahender and Jaspal.