3 held with elephant tusk

The Bendigeri police arrested three persons who were transporting a 54-inch long elephant tusk in a car, near Gabbur Cross on the outskirts of the City on Friday.

Bastyenv Alex Siddi (38) of Kegedal in Haliyal taluk of Uttara Kannada district, Jailani Garag (35) of Alasi in Khanapur taluk of Belagavi district, and Manunath Jommannavar (43) of Bikkelli in Haliyal taluk were the arrested. They were carrying the tusk in a rented car.

"The arrested admitted that they were transporting the tusk to sell it for at least for Rs 10 lakh, but the market value of that tusk is said to be around Rs one crore. As per the first information, the tusk was brought from forest area near Haliyal. Forest Department officials will verify the details, and more information in the case will be collected during the investigation," Police Commissioner M N Nagaraj said.

The accused hired a car in Haliyal, which was earlier rented out to the Zilla Panchayat. The car has been seized, and its driver Manjunath is also being interrogated. The accused might have brought the tusk removed from a dead elephant or the elephant might have been killed for the tusk. Details would come out during the investigation, he added.