Two suspected wildlife smugglers were arrested in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district, with an elephant tusk valued at around ₹1.5 crore recovered from their possession, officials said on Tuesday.
The arrests were made during a joint operation by the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) and the Forest Department. The accused were intercepted while travelling on a motorcycle during a late-night checking operation at Barakoli Range in the Kalyanpur area of Sitarganj.
The suspects have been identified as Mrityunjay Haldar (32) and Manik Mandal (35), both residents of Sitarganj.
Officials said further investigation is underway to trace possible links to a larger wildlife trafficking network.
