West Bengal: DRI Siliguri seizes elephant tusks from train at New Jalpaiguri railway station; two arrested
Dec 10, 2023
Siliguri (West Bengal) [India], December 10 : The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) Siliguri unit seized Asiatic elephant tusks (ivory) weighing around 7.5 kg from Rajdhani Express at New Jalpaiguri railway station Saturday afternoon. Two accused have been arrested in the tusk smuggling case.
Ratan Banik, DRI's lawyer, said, "Based on intelligence inputs, the officers of DRI Siliguri Unit intercepted two persons named Suleman Kha (28) and Ratan Goyala, residents of Naogaon, Assam, from the Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express at New Jalpaiguri Railway Station last afternoon."
Ratan Banik further said that the tusks were supposed to be smuggled to Nepal through the Indo-Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh.
After thoroughly searching, the team recovered one conical shape and another two cylindrical-shaped cut-piece elephant tusks from their bag.
Both accused were produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) court in Siliguri and sent to custody.
