The Sangli police on Tuesday arrested three persons for allegedly smuggling ivory. The police raided a car on Sangli-Kolhapur road in Sangli city and nabbed the three with an elephant tusk weighing 10kg. The market price of the tusk is around Rs 25 lakh.
The arrested have been identified as Ramchandra Krishnappa Latthe (35), a resident of Hirekudi from the Belagavi district, Prakash Shamrao Chavan (48), a resident of Peth Vadgaon, in the Hatkanangle taluka and Sachin Bhimsen Chavan (32), a resident of Kudal MIDC area, in the Sindhudurg district.
Police also seized the car in which they were travelling worth Rs. 3 lakh.
Superintendent of police Sunil Phulari said, “We got a tip off that a gang of people will visit the city with the tusk. A team of anti-gunda squad was sent to patrol the concerned area. At Akashwani area on Sangli-Kolhapur road, the team found a car halted on the road side. On checking the car they found the tusk hidden inside. The gang was arrested.” tnn
“When we weighed the tusk, we found it 10.160 kg weighing. A case has been registered against them under section 9(c), section 44 and section 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and various other laws, he said.
The trio was carrying the tusk in a car and we suspect that they were waiting for probable buyers when police arrested them. We are interrogating to find out if the tusker was killed by these men or they are mere couriers. We suspect that there is a chain of smugglers involved in this type of trade and will try to reach out to them through the trio, he said.
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