Sunday, 29 January 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand Special Task Force has caught three men with one elephant tusk from the Kaladhungi area of Nainital district. With poachers and smugglers consistently looking for an opportunity to carry out their activities, the STF senior superintendent of police Ayush Agrawal had deputed a separate team of the STF to check wildlife contraband smuggling.
Agrawal informed that on January 27, the STF received information that a gang of criminals is active in the Kaladhungi area of Nainital where it is involved in smuggling of ivory and other wildlife contraband. A team from the Dehradun branch of STF was sent to Kaladhungi to act on the information. On Friday, three men were arrested by the STF from Pawalgarh in Kaladhungi and one prohibited elephant tusk was recovered from them. According to the STF, the single tusk weighs about nine kilogrammes. The three men arrested have been identified as Kaladhungi resident Deepak Chimwal, Arvind Gupta and Amit, both residents of Bazpur in Udham Singh Nagar district.
The trio is being interrogated by the STF with attempts being made to identify their forward links and other contacts. The STF is also seeking information to ascertain where the tusk was sourced from by the men. A case has been registered against the three men in the Kaladhungi police station.
