The New Indian Express ·
Trio, including forest staff, held for attempting to sell elephant tusks
TIRUPPUR: The forest department on Wednesday arrested a trio, including a forest guard, in connection with an attempt to sell two elephant tusks that had been illegally stashed in a house in Amaravathi, under Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), Tiruppur district.
The accused were identified as A Mariappan (49), who works as a forest guard in the Udumalaipet forest range; K Kannimuthu (52), a wage worker; both from Parai, a tribal settlement in Amaravathi Nagar; and R Vijayakumar (29), of Amaravathi Nagar.
Forest department sources said, at around 3 pm on September 7, photographs of two elephant tusks were received from an unidentified WhatsApp number by Senthil Murugan, FRO of Amaravathi. An inquiry into the phone number revealed that it belonged to Sakthi of Amaravathi.
