Forest officials nab 7 for ivory trade

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Forest Department, during an extensive raid carried out with the police on the night of July 10, has yieldied results with seven people being arrested from the outskirts of the capital for alleged involvement in the trade of elephant tusks.

One of the persons arrested, Ajth Sankar, is said to be DYFI area secretary and Vanchiyoor area committee member. According to sources, another person who was summoned for questioning and then let off was a local Congress leader.

The others arrested have been identified as Prasintha Silva, T.V. Mani, Sunil Pettah, Suresh Sanghum-ughom, Romin Alva and Antony Alva.

Forest department sou-rces said that some of the arrested people were also the ones nabbed during a raid conducted by the department in 2008.

The seven were arrested on the basis of information extracted from three others who were arrested on July 10.

At least two large sculptures made of ivory were also seized during the raids carried out in godowns in Balaramapuram, near here.

The intelligence wing of the forest department has intensified search for Chackai resident Aji Bright, said to be the kingpin of the ivory trade in the capital.

Bright is also an accused in innumerable criminal and forest-related cases. There are also char-ges that the block-level Congress leader was let off after pressure from higher-ups.

Sources said that the accused would be taken to Malayatoor for questioning.