Five pairs of ivory seized, three held

In a major operation, the special forest mobile squad (FMS) personnel seized 10 elephant tusks weighing 51.73 kg from Belthangady near here, official sources said.

The tusks worth Rs one crore were on Wednesday found to have been hidden in a house at Doojirige.

Three persons - two from Karnataka and one from Kerala, have been arrested in this connection.

Another accused Anwar from Mangaluru managed to escape during the raid.

All the four have been engaged in the illegal trade for long, the sources said.

The FMS conducted the operation after getting specific information that tusks had been stored in the region since the last three months and the accused were searching for buyers.

The seized tusks were estimated to command a price of around Rs one crore, the sources said.

A double-barrel gun and eight rounds of ammunition were also recovered from the spot.

The accused were being questioned about the source of the tusks.

As per preliminary information, the tusks were brought from Kerala.

Belthangady range forest officer was conducting further investigation.