Five elephant tusks weighing over 35 kg stolen from Uttarakhand forest office, 1 held

Kotdwar: A man was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly stealing five elephant tusks weighing 35.41 kg from a storeroom of the Lansdowne Forest Division in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal district, officials said.

The accused, identified as Ghulam Mustafa alias Nanu (34), a resident of Gaindikhata in Haridwar district, was arrested in a joint operation by the forest department and police.

The theft came to light in October when forest officials discovered that five elephant tusks were missing from the Laldhang range office. The discovery was made during an audit of seized or recovered elephant tusks conducted across all range offices in the state following directives from the Central Zoo Authority.

On November 1, Sudhir Kumar, sub-divisional forest officer of the Lansdowne Forest Division, lodged a formal complaint at the Yamkeshwar police station in Pauri Garhwal district regarding the theft.

A case was initially registered on the basis of the complaint, while a formal case was registered at Kotwali Kotdwar on November 4 under Section 305(E) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Acting on a tip-off, police launched an investigation and identified Mustafa as a suspect. He was summoned for questioning by Rajat Kapil, the investigating officer from the forest department, during which he allegedly confessed to the theft.

Mustafa admitted to stealing the tusks from the storeroom of the Laldhang Range, officials said.

Following the confession, he was arrested on Tuesday and booked under relevant sections of the BNS and the Indian Forest Act, 1927.

Based on information provided by the accused, authorities recovered a broken lock from the storeroom and a piece of iron rod allegedly used to break it.

Police officials said Mustafa had provided crucial information regarding the stolen elephant tusks, which is currently being investigated. Legal action is also being initiated against other individuals suspected of involvement in the case.

The accused was produced before a court in Kotdwar, which remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.

A review of his criminal history revealed that cases had previously been registered against him at the Najibabad police station in Uttar Pradesh under the Arms Act and at the Shyampur police station in Haridwar under the Indian Penal Code, officials said.

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