nEight people have been booked on Wednesday for removing two tusks of a wild tusker that died in a forest block Shankarpur of Raghunath Nagar circle in Balrampur forest division under Sarguja region of the state.
The incident took place two weeks ago.
According to Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Atul Shukla, 11 persons were involved in the incident as per the information received.
The forest department team after investigation identified the persons involved in the incident and recovered the tusks from Moti Bandhu son of Bandu, a resident of Tokdhandh para of Sonhat under Balrampur forest division. The tusks were kept hidden after digging a pit. One of the tusks weighed 15.90 kilogram while another 16.40 kilogram. The market price of the ivory is estimated to be around Rs 70 lakh.
Eight persons have been arrested while three are still absconding.
The team was constituted under Chief Conservator of Forest A. B. Minz and DFO Dr Pranay Mishra.
Shukla further said that similarly three persons were arrested on Tuesday from Achanakmar Tiger reserve, Lormi buffer zone for killing a wild boar.