Babu Jose alias Chettiyar (37) of Kocharai in Kerala, wanted by the Forest Department for his alleged involvement in smuggling elephant tusks, surrendered before forest officers in Segur Range, The Nilgiris, on Thursday.
District Forest Officer (DFO) of The Nilgiris South Division C. Badrasamy said that the man was a tusk dealer and was among the prime accused arrested by the Forest Department while unearthing a big tusk racket in Kerala last year. He was later granted bail.
It was based on his confession in Kerala, the forest personnel here arrested four persons including two tribals who hunted wild elephants in The Nilgiris and handed over the tusks to him. Mr. Badrasamy quoted Babu Jose as confessing that he gave the gun to Kubendran and Singaram (who were arrested last month) for hunting a tusker in the forests in The Nilgiris about a year ago.
The DFO quoted Babu as saying that he had got 10 tuskers killed in forests in Tamil Nadu over a period of five years. He was booked under Section 9 read with 52 of The Wildlife Protection Act before he was remanded, on Thursday night. “We are on the lookout for a tribal who was an accomplice of the five persons who were arrested so far in this case,” the DFO said.