Baripada: Odisha police Wednesday arrested two ivory smugglers during a drive against poachers in Similipal National Park, Mayurbhanj SP B Gangadhar said. Speaking to reporters, the SP said police had seized two country-made guns, three air guns, and Rs 2.95 lakh cash from them. “The two accused have cases involving the ivory trade. They might be using these arms to kill elephants to extract the tusks,” he said. The arrested were identified as Santanu Sahu (52) and Aswini Kumar Dey (50) of Sainkula village under Khunta police station. He said three platoons (1 platoon comprising 30 personnel) of policemen were deployed in Similipal Tiger Reserve after two forest officials were gunned down. Earlier, police seized 11 country-made guns during search operations in Similipal National Park, the SP said.
