Forest officials seized two five-foot length tusks worth Rs 30 lakhs from four persons trying to smuggle them out of India at Sathyamangalam forest in Erode on Friday.
The four were arrested.Based on a tip-off, Sathyamangalam Forest ranger U.K.T. Nagasundaram, along with sleuths from STF, rushed to the Gunderipallam village in the forest area.
They found that the tusks were being smuggled from the forest in an SUV by four men.
The four were M. Senthilkumar, 35, from Udumalpet, A. Mohanraj, 41, and S. Balu alias Shanmugam, 35, both from Thondamuthur in Coimbatore, and J. Peter, 35, of Angamali near Ernakulam.
Nagasundaram said that the four had cut each of the tusks (worth `30 lakhs) into two, making a total of four pieces, and hid in their car. They were planning to take them to Kerala, from where to abroad.
