Five men trying to sell elephant tusks caught on Food Street

Police have arrested a five-member gang from Tamil Nadu that allegedly tried to sell elephant tusks on Food Street, VV Puram, and seized two tusks from them.

Police filed a case under the Wildlife Act against Govindaraj, 24, Rajesh, 28, Prabhakaran, 34, Naveen, 29, and Tamil Selvan, 25, who hail from Tirupattur and Vellore districts.

On Friday, VV Puram police inspector Shivashankar K received information about a few men loitering about in Food Street in a suspicious manner, although the informant was not aware of the gang’s motives. Shivashankar and his team rushed to Food Street around 5.30 pm, looked around for anyone looking suspicious and found the five people carrying a plastic gunny bag.

The police surrounded them when the men went inside a crowd gathered for food. They checked the bags and were shocked to find the two tusks. They took the gang to the police station and conducted an inquiry. The men disclosed the names of people who gave them the tusks in Tamil Nadu and asked them to sell it to a particular customer in Bengaluru.

They were arrested before they could complete the sale. Associates of the arrested men had a Rs 9-lakh deal for a kilogram of tusk with the customers. An investigating officer said the tusks would be handed over to the Forest Department and an investigation would be carried out on who smuggled the tusks.

“We’re trying to nab the others involved in the smuggling,” the officer added.