Six persons were arrested and an elephant tusk weighing 5.5 kg and estimated to be worth about ₹1.5 crore was seized by Forest department officials at Mananthavady in Wayanad district of Kerala on November 4 morning.
The arrested were identified as Raju, 52, of Gonikkoppal, Philip Mathew, 68, of Ponnampet, Gepp, 60 of Shettygiri in Karnataka and Sudheesh, 36, Justin Joseph, 24, and Yeldo, 30, of Vakery in Wayanad.
The first three accused, Raju, Philip Mathew and Gepp, brought the tusk from Karnataka for sale, and Sudheesh, Justin Joseph and Yeldo were the middlemen, Forest department sources said.
