Bhubaneswar, Oct 18 - Forest officials in Mayurbanj district have seized ivory worth Rs. 150,000 from a smuggler.The tusk weighing 21.9 kg and cut into five pieces, was seized from the accused Wednesday by forest officials at Malapada village in Mayurbanj district, about 350 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar.'Acting on a tip-off about the smuggling of ivory by a tribal, we laid a trap early Wednesday to catch him red-handed,' said Range Officer Jitendra Kumar Mohanty.Badia Bhakta, 35, was arrested as soon as he was spotted walking through a lonely patch with the contraband items.During interrogation he confessed that he had poached a tusker in Sabaka hills inside the Similipal tiger reserve.Sakaram Marandi, the divisional forest officer, visited the area to carry out further investigation on poaching and smuggling, which is active in the area.Badia Bhakta is suspected to be part of a big inter-state smuggling racket for ivory and other animal parts.
(c) Indo-Asian News Service
