45 kg ivory seized in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, 2 poachers arrested

The weight of the recovered ivories is 44.9kg. These will be sent to Dehradun for a chemical examination.

Published on: Feb 25, 2021, 10:35:52 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty | Edited by Abhinav Sahay, Bhubaneswar

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In the biggest ever seizure of ivory in Odisha in recent years, a team of forest officials in Mayurbhanj district carried out an undercover operation to recover eight ivories weighing around 45 kg from two people on Wednesday.

Forest officials are investigating to establish the source of these ivories.

Divisional forest officer (DFO) of Baripada, Santosh Kumar Joshi said an undercover team posing as customers conducted raids at Angarpada village under Udala forest range and nabbed Paghuram Hansda and Ramachandra Hansda for illegal possession of ivories.

“A team led by the Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) was formed to investigate an elephant poaching incident that took place on February 6. During the probe, we got some vital clues and carried out raids accordingly,” Joshi said. “We laid a trap and caught the two, who are known poachers. We made a deal with them to buy eight pieces of ivory at ₹18 lakh.”

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The weight of the seized ivories is 44.9 kg. These will be sent to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun for chemical examination.

Two elephants were poached in Udala and Kaptipada range a few days ago while the carcass of a 25-year-old tusker, with missing tusks, was found in Mayurbhanj in January this year. Investigation will tell whether the ivories are that of these poached elephants.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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