Three elephant tusks seized in Tripura’s Unakoti, accused on the run

The Tripura police have seized three elephant tusks from a village in Unakoti district, officials said on August 3. 

However, no arrest has been made as the owner of the house from where the tusks were seized managed to escape.

Acting on a tip-off, police carried out a raid at the house of Ayub Ali at Sonapur village on August 2 evening.

"During the search, police found three elephant tusks. We could not arrest the house owner as he escaped before the arrival of the police," Kailashahar Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Jayanta Karmakar told reporters.

He said a case has been registered and a manhunt launched to nab the accused.

Assistant Wildlife Officer Subhankar Das said the tusks are not of adult elephants.

"It is not clear as to how Ali got hold of the tusks," he said.

The forest department, in association with the police, will take legal action against those involved in the case, he said.