Rourkela: Forest personnel here seized two pieces of ivory and nabbed 11 persons in this connection during a joint operation with police, Thursday. The Forest personnel with the help of Bargaon police initially arrested seven persons – -Rameshwar Nayak (51), a resident of Bargaon, Biraja Munda (40) and Suguda Hembram (34) of K Bolang, Khageswar Mohanta (40), Prakash Chandra Mahakud (39), Ramchandra Patra (61), Satyananda Patra (51), Pritikanta Mohanta (27) and Ranjan Mohanta (48) of Keonjhar. Sources said all the 11 accused had gathered at the residence of Rameshwar Nayak and were hatching a plan to sell off the ivory.
In the meanwhile, Forest personnel and police launched a joint raid and nabbed them. During the operation, two pieces of ivory weighing around 3 kg each were recovered and seized. The accused were brought to the Banki forest range office for interrogation where they admitted their involvement in the illegal trade. During interrogation, they revealed that Jasobant Patra alias Susant (58) of Keonjhar and Bidyadhara Patra (48) of Karanjia in the Mayurbhanj district were also involved in this illegal activity.
Following the confession, the duo was also nabbed and taken for interrogation. All the above-mentioned persons were involved in the illegal trade of ivory smuggling. They have been booked under Sections 9, 39, 44, and 49 B of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
A case (15/2024) has been registered in this connection at the Banki forest range office. Later, the accused persons were produced in the SDJM court at Bonai. The accused persons will face jail terms ranging from a minimum of three to seven years and penalties up to Rs 1 lakh when convicted. Rourkela DFO Jasobant Sethi confirmed that further inquiry was going on to ascertain where the ivory was sourced from.
