The Forest department officials have arrested three persons from Assam, on charges of transporting tusks, bones and the jaw of a dead wild elephant, here, on Thursday.
Following this, the department has formed a team, led by Deputy Conservator of Forests Shivaram Babu, comprising ACF Lingaraj, RFO Ravindra and others, suspecting a larger network behind them, said sources.
The arrested are Ganga Prasad, Sylas Barla and A Unil, who were working as labourers at Kadumane Tea Estate, in the taluk.
The accused were nabbed, when they were transporting the tusks, bones, stolen from the dead elephant, inside the forest. They confessed to the officials that they were carrying the body parts for selling. It is said that they had migrated from Assam and have been working as labourers in Kadumane Tea Estate since several years.
Acting on a tip-off, Range Forest Officer P C Ravindra, Deputy Range Forest Officer N Manjunath, forest mobile squad RFO Girish and team nabbed them. They have been remanded to judicial custody.
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