Officials of the Forest Cell of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) caught a 27-year-old forest watcher while he was trying to sell two elephant tusks to prospective clients on Kollegal Ring Road on Tuesday.
Incidents of forest guards involved in illegal sale of tusks and wildlife articles seem to be on the rise and this is the third such case in the last six months in the State.
In this instance, the accused, Chandrashekhar, along with his brother-in-law Basavaraj, a tractor driver, was waiting to deliver the tusks when the CID Forest Cell team caught the duo. The third accused, Puttaswamy, 55, father of Chandrashekhar, managed to escape the police net and efforts are on to track him down.
A probe revealed that Chandrashekhar was working at Dodda Makali camp in Male Mahadeshwara Hills as a forest watcher for the last eight years. He reportedly confessed to the police that he saw the carcass of an elephant floating in a river while he was patrolling the forest area in November 2023, removed the tusks and hid them in the forest for many months.
He, along with his relatives, started spreading the word that they have elephant tusks. On being tipped off, CID Forest Cell authorities deployed decoys who approached Chandrashekhar posing as prospective clients and trapped him. The officials have taken him into custody and are probing further to trace the remains of the elephant.
In a similar case, CID Forest Cell officials arrested 30-year-old Nakulaiah from Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, when he was trying to sell a pair of elephant tusks weighing 8.1 kg in December 2024. The accused reportedly confessed that he sourced the tusks from his brother Chinnaiah who worked as a forest watcher in Bannerghatta forest and is presently on the run.
In September 2024, villagers found a highly decomposed carcass of an elephant with two bullet wounds and with the tusks missing in Bhadra Forest Range. A probe is under way and the DCF, Bhadra Range, has been suspended in the case. The role of Forest Department officials is also under the lens.
