Alipore: Two elephant tusks weighing around 31kg were seized from a house in New Alipore Block B on Tuesday
One of the tusks is 148cm-long and has a girth of 35cm, while the other has a length of 132cm and a girth of 34cm.
"The tusks were found in the possession of Rabin Paul. We are
trying to find out the ownership before taking further action," an
officer of the CID said.
The team that raided the New Alipore house following a
"specific" tip-off comprised representatives of the CID and the wildlife
wing of the state forest department. Calcutta police helped the raiding
team.
Possessing or trading in ivory is banned around the world.
A kilogram of uncarved ivory can cost anything between Rs
20,000 and Rs 70,000 in the black market, while intricately carved items
can fetch up to crores of rupees.
"Ivory trade within India has come down significantly.
Poachers usually target the illegal markets in China, Japan, Thailand,
Vietnam and some other Asian countries where the demand for ivory is
high.
There, ivory is used in personalised nameplates, statues, and
other items," a forest department official said.
Elephant are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife
Protection Act, 1972. Killing the animal or keeping any ivory item can
attract at least three years in jail and a fine of Rs-50,000.
India is home to 27,300 of the 50,000-odd Asian elephants
found across the world, according to the 2017 count. At the turn of the
century, there were 2,50,000 Asian elephants in 13 countries.
More than 80 elephants were killed in India over the past three years.
A report released by the environment ministry states that
Karnataka has the largest number of elephants, followed by Assam and
Kerala.
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