The Mysuru forest mobile squad recently nabbed four persons suspected to be involved in illegal trading of ivory and other wildlife derivatives and have taken them into custody for questioning.
Based on a tip-off, the squad laid a trap to entice the dealers and apparently struck a deal to buy the contraband. The squad, led by DCF A.T. Poovaiah, seized 8 pieces of ivory weighing around 25 kg and a part from a vehicle used to transport the materials.
The accused are Prestine Silva and Jayaprakash from Thiruvanathapuram in Kerala, Mohan and Ramesh from Mysuru. The authorities said the four agreed to negotiate and demanded a price of ₹20,000 per kg of ivory when the mobile team zeroed in and arrested them.
