Ivory worth Rs 25.50 lakh recovered from 2

Police in action:

In a major haul, N R Police have apprehended two on charges of smuggling ivory, recovering a pair of tusks worth a whopping ` 25.50 lakh from them on Saturday.
Disclosing this to media at the station’s premises here on Sunday, Police Commissioner Sunil Agarwal gave the names of the accused as- Ravikumar alias Ravi, 22, son of late Kencha, a daily wager from Bommadu, Virajpet taluk, Kodagu and Kalappa alias Thimma, 50, also a daily wager, from G R Haadi village, Naganahalli, H D Kote taluk in the district.

Acting on a tip off, police reached the grove and took the accused into custody besides confisicating the booty in the evening. Quoting the version of the accused during preliminary investigation, the commissioner said Kalappa had removed the tusks by hand from the highly decomposed carcass of an elephant near Taraka, in H D Kote Forest Range.

The prime accused in the case, Ravikumar had been previously arrested in a similar case registered in Hunsur Town Police limits.

Ravikumar and three of his associates Raju, Appanna and Shankar were arrested for possessing the tusk. The four had been released on bail, after sometime.
Kalappa who seems to be the novice in the realm, somehow came in contact with  Ravikumar, adept in the particular illegal trade, to dispose off the tusks. 

The duo was in search of prospective buyers, when they fell in the police net. The police are yet to collect information on how they could smuggle tusks into the city, the commissioner said, answering a query.

According to the accused, the tusks command ` 2.5 lakh per kg and the seized tusks weigh 10.5 kg in total. However, it will be sent for examination to an institute in Bangalore who are, experts in the same. The police team that busted the case was led by inspector K N Yeshwanth Kumar.

Cong leader’s wife in dock

A case has been registered against AICC General Secretary B K Hariprasad’s wife T G Usha, on charge of issuing a murder threat.

In his complaint to Jayalakshmipuram police on Sunday, T G Raghu brother of T G Usha has alleged that his sister threatened to get rid of him, if he didn’t vacate the house he was living in at 12th cross, V V Mohalla.

SDA aspirant among three killed

Three people were killed in two separate incidents here on Sunday. Channappa (50) of Malkundi, Nanjangud taluk was riding his moped with another on pillion, when a lorry rammed into the two-wheeler, killing them on the spot. The incident occurred near Ganapati Temple on Maidanahalli Road in Yelwal around 6 pm. The lorry driver fled from the spot. Channappa was a stone businessman. The body of another is yet to be identified. Yelwal Police have registered a case.

In another incident, a 35-year-old second division assistant (SDA) aspirant was killed. Vijayalakshmi daughter of late Ningaiah of Yaraganahalli is the victim. She was on her way to write exams for SDA, at Seventh Day School. She accidentally fell off from the KSRTC bus (route no 120) near Government School for Deaf and Dumb, in Tilak Nagar, around 10 am. Vijayalakshmi who suffered grievous injuries was rushed to K R Hospital, but in vain.

Cops could trace her identity with the help of her admission hall ticket. It is alleged that the driver of the bus opened the hydraulic door, 100 metres before the scheduled stop. Anxious, Vijayalaskhmi who was already late for exams, was standing near the door. As it opened she fell. Driver Purushotham has been arrested.N R Traffic police have registered a case.