Deoria (UP), Dec 3 (PTI) Three wildlife smugglers have been arrested after being found in possession of six elephant tusks with an estimated market value of around Rs 2.5 crore, a Forest Department spokesperson said on Friday.

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The smugglers were identified as Noor Alam Khan, Waqar Ahmed and Shadab Ahmed, all residents of Deoria, the forest spokesperson said.

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They were arrested on Thursday after a Forest Department team, acting on a tip-off that some wildlife smugglers will be heading to Gorakhpur with some elephant tusks, intercepted their vehicle near Baitalpur township on Gorakhpur-Deoria Road and found the six pieces of ivory concealed in a bag in their vehicle.

The team comprised forest rangers of Deoria, Salempur and Rudrapur, the spokesperson said.

A sum of Rs 10,025 and four mobile phones too were seized from the smugglers who were booked under various sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, the spokesperson said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)