Assam: 2.5 kg elephant tusk recovered from resident in Morigaon, one arrested

Officials said the elephant tusk was kept inside a chamber in the house of one Asmat Ali, a resident of Laharighat

Forest officials in Assam’s Morigaon district on Friday recovered an elephant tusk weighing 2.5 kg from a residence, following which the owner of the house was arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act, officials said.

(Representative Photo)

Based on the information, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary officials conducted searches at the Tengatoli area in Laharighat of Morigaon on Friday morning.

Officials said the elephant tusk was kept inside a chamber in the house of one Asmat Ali, a resident of Laharighat.

The man was placed under arrest for allegedly being involved in the illegal trade of wildlife animal body parts, officials said.

“The arrested person is under the custody of the forest department, and a case has been registered against him under Wildlife Protection Act,” said the officials.

The Forest department, along with Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and Assam police, have conducted several raids across the state in recent weeks and have arrested several suspected smugglers along with the recovery of the body parts of poached wild animals.

On August 13, a special task force arrested three rhino poachers from the Chirang district near the India-Bhutan border. A large amount of elephant tusks were also recovered from them.