THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Forest officials on Tuesday arrested four persons, who were allegedly trying to trade an ornamental box made of ivory.
The arrested have been identified as Ayoob Khan, Shereef, Selvaraj and Mani. They were nabbed from Injavila, near Parassala, where Ayoob Khan resided, by the Forest officials based on information passed on to them by the Forest Intelligence Cell.
The Forest officials said that the ivory box with beautiful forms carved on it was worth over Rs 5 lakh. The box could fetch as much as Rs 10 lakh in the foreign market. The arrested persons said that they had purchased the box from a smuggler at Manacaud in the city.
The arrest was made by a team led by Forest Control Room Range Officer J Satheesan and Chullimanoor Flying Squad Range Officer N Ajith. The arrested men have been handed over to Paruthippalli Forest Range Office for further action.