Varanasi: Two ivory tusks and an elephant’s jaw were recovered and three poachers were arrested by joint team of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) Gorakhpur, STF and divisional forest office staff in Mirzapur district on Tuesday.Divisional forest officer (Mirzapur) Rakesh Kumar said that acting on specific inputs about wildlife trafficking the joint team of WCCB, STF and his division intercepted the three accused near Baba Kaleshwar temple under Jigna police station on Tuesday afternoon.During search and investigation, the joint team recovered two ivory tusks (1.49 kg) and an elephant jaw (800 grams), said Kumar, sffinh that a motorcycle and three mobile phones were also seized in the operation.The three arrested were identified as Avilesh Kumar Shukla, Rammani Yadav and Deveshwar, all residents of of Prayagraj district. Forest officials booked them under sections of Wildlife Protection Act and took the recovered wildlife parts, vehicle and other materials in custody.Based on outcomes of preliminary questioning and available evidence, officials said those arrested were involved in illegal trade and smuggling of parts of protected wildlife for long time. Further investigation was being conducted jointly by officials of forest department, WCCB and STF to identify other possible accused and the roots of the poaching network.DFO made it clear that the department has zero tolerance policy against wildlife crimes and strict legal action will be taken against those involved in poaching, illegal trade and smuggling. He appealed to public to convey immediately any information related to wildlife crimes to the forest department and help put check on it.
