The forest officials on Friday arrested a 64-year-old tribal man in connection with a case of ivory seizure at Adimaly in Idukki.
The arrested was Purushothaman of Kurathikudy tribal settlement at Adimaly. According to Forest department officials, a pair of ivory tusks weighing 9 kg was seized from the possession of the accused. The ivory tusks were seized by the Forest intelligence wing. Adimaly range officer Joji James and Devikulam range officer P.V. Vegi, led the team.
The Forest department officials approached the accused as ivory tusk buyers. The accused had hidden the ivory tusks inside a sack behind his house. According to officials, in his statement to the forest, the accused said that two people, Balan and Unni from the Elamblassery settlement, had handed over the ivory tusks to him around six months before. The accused was produced before the Adimaly Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Saturday and has been remanded to judicial custody.
“The probe is going on, and more accused will be arrested soon,” said a Forest department official.
According to Forest department officials, the forest road connecting Elamblassery, near Neriamangalam in Ernakulam, that passes through Kurathikudy tribal settlement to Mankulam tourist destination, was recently opened for the public. “After the road’s opening, the entry of outsiders has increased in the Kurathikudy tribal settlement, resulting in increased crime incidents. The illegal entry of tourists in the reserve forest area is also a threat to wild elephants including animals,” said a senior Forest department official.
