Ivory trafficking racket busted in Odisha’s Balasore, 4 arrested

The Odisha Forest Department on Wednesday evening busted an ivory trafficking racket in Balasore district, seizing two elephant tusks and arresting four persons from Talanagar village under the Soro police station limits.

The operation was led by Balasore Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Prafulla Kumar Mallick, with two Forest Department teams carrying out coordinated raids at multiple locations. As part of the operation, forest personnel posed as buyers and struck a deal with the suspects to purchase ivory. Acting as decoy traders, the officers reached the accused’s house in Talanagar and caught them red-handed during the transaction.

Forest officials suspect the involvement of more individuals in the illegal trade and believe the arrested persons may be part of a larger smuggling network. The identities of the accused have been withheld, and a detailed investigation is underway to trace the wider links of the racket.

Similar cases in the past

Earlier, the Special Task Force (STF) of the Odisha Police had apprehended two ivory traders during a covert operation in the Athamallik area of Angul district. The accused had planned to sell the tusks for around Rs 5 lakh, while the STF operation foiled the deal just in time and took both individuals into custody.