TIRUPPUR: Two tribal youths were arrested for allegedly possessing and attempting to sell a molar of a female wild elephant in the Amaravathi forest range, under Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), in Tiruppur district on Thursday.
The accused were identified as P Surya (30) of the Parai tribal settlement in Amaravathi, and P Karuppasamy (29) of Thalinjivayal tribal settlement in Udumalaipet.
According to forest officials, based on a tip-off, a team of forest officials from Amaravathi forest range and personnel from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB),Coimbatore, launched a search in the Parai settlement.Then the team questioned Surya and examined his mobile phone, on which they found a photograph of a female elephant's molar.
During questioning, Surya allegedly told the officials that Karuppusamy had sent him the photograph.
A separate team then went to Thalinjivayal and questioned Karuppusamy. During inquiry, he allegedly confessed that about a year ago, while he had gone into the forest to collect honey, he found a dead female elephant. He allegedly found and took one of its molars and concealed it in under a rock on the bank of the Thenaru River, about 500m from Thalinjivayal. He had later sent a photograph of the molar to Surya.
Forest officials subsequently took Karuppusamy to the location and recovered the molar.
The team then inspected the spot where the elephant had reportedly died, located about 6km from Thalinjivayal settlement. Scattered bones of the dead female elephant were found at the site. Another molar was also recovered from a nearby bush.
On Friday, the two molars were then matched with the skull of the dead female elephant. Forest veterinarians confirmed that both molars belonged to the same female jumbo.
On Saturday, the department registered a case under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and arrested them. Further investigation is under way.