TV
In a significant operation against wildlife crime, the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Police apprehended one individual in Boudh district and recovered two elephant tusks valued at approximately Rs 50 lakh in the illegal market.
Reports stated that acting on intelligence input, an STF team led by DSP Rashmiranjan Pattnaik and Inspector Jitu Mohan Bassera intercepted the accused, Pramod Parida, near Telibandha Chhak in Boudh, at around 7 PM on Sunday.
Authorities began a routine interrogation, and upon searching his belongings, officers found two elephant tusks concealed with the intent to sell them illegally.
Sources then added that the accused was immediately taken into custody, and the seized tusks were handed over to the Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Boudh, for further legal action under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Rising Cases of Wildlife Trafficking in Odisha
This latest seizure adds to a growing list of wildlife crime cases being investigated by the STF. Just weeks earlier in April, the STF had busted a similar trafficking attempt in Kandhamal district, where two men were arrested for possessing a leopard skin.
That raid, conducted on April 21 near Dahapadar Chhak along the Phulbani–Baliguda road, led to the arrest of two residents of Budruma village.
A leopard skin and other evidence were recovered from them. The accused failed to produce any documentation for the possession of the protected wildlife article and were subsequently booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Wildlife (Protection) Act.
The leopard skin has since been sent to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in Dehradun for forensic examination to confirm its authenticity and support the prosecution.
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Crackdown on Organised Poaching Networks
STF officials state that wildlife trafficking in Odisha is often linked to organised crime networks that exploit forest-dwelling communities for poaching endangered species like elephants, leopards, and pangolins. Elephant ivory, in particular, is a lucrative item in international black markets, often smuggled out for ornamental use or traditional medicine despite strict global bans.
