Police seized an elephant tusk and arrested three persons on charges sof smuggling them at Bhakura Chhack on NH 5(A) within Balichandrapur police station inJajpur district on Friday night.
The tusk, reportedly brought from Keonjhar, was found in the possession of the arrested trio. Three mobile phones and a car used by them were also seized.
The three persons have been identified by police as Kedar Barik (46) of Chandapur village under Bari police station in Jajpur district, Khitish Barik (24) of Halidiapatana under Nikirei police station in Kendrapada district and Jayant Das (32) of Habajapur under balichandrapur police station in Jajpur district.
“We were tipped off about a gang of people crossing the highway with the tusk. On checking the car at Bhakura Chhack, we found the tusk hidden inside and arrested the three persons . The accused were on their way to Chandikhola to sell the tusk to a trader. One of the three arrested, Kedar Barik, is wanted in several cases,” said IIC of Balichandrapur, Sarat Chandra Patra.