BELAGAVI: Horns of wild animals weighing more than one ton, tiger claws and a large number of elephant tusks, worth several crores, were recovered from an old house at Shetty Galli during a police raid in the city on Tuesday evening.
For the past 20 years the horns were being stored in the house and smuggled regularly to various countries by the accused, Salim Chamdewale, a resident of Belgavi. The house was being used mainly to store the horns and tusks and nobody stayed there.
To carry out his illegal trade, Salim had prevented people from entering the house by telling them it was a 'ghost house'. Nearby residents claim for many years they never saw lights in the house during night. Once or twice a week, Chamdewale would enter the house during night, load horns and tusks in goods autos to smuggle them out, according to the police.
Based on a tip-off, a team of police officials from Belagavi City Crime Branch raided the house on Tuesday evening and they were shocked to see a huge amount of horns, of deer and other animals, stored inside. They claimed they also recovered penguin shells and tiger claws. The entire house was packed with horns. The police later transported the contraband to Forest Department godowns in several good autos.
During the preliminary interrogation of the accused, the police found that he was exporting them to China and various Gulf countries via Mumbai. The house is in the heart of Belagavi market and barely 50 metres away from Market Police Station.
