The Forest Department in Tirupattur has arrested seven persons for illegal possession of 1.9 kg of whale vomit (ambergris), which costs around Rs two crore in the black market.
The arrested persons were identified as S. Muthukumar (41), K. Siva Karthikeyan (25), V. Pandian (22), B. Sukendar (21), R. Vineeth Kumar (27), V. Satyanarayana (22) and G. Ajith Kumar (23). All of them belong to Tirupattur district. The banned item was mainly smuggled from coastal areas in the State to abroad mainly for unverified medical usage and to make perfumes. “We have been tracking the gang with the help of district police before they were nabbed from their hideouts in Tirupattur. A detailed inquiry especially about its source has been initiated,” K.R. Cholarajan, forest range officer (Tirupattur), told The Hindu.
Initial inquiry revealed that Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) have been providing specific inputs to the district police led Tirupatur SP Shreya Gupta about the gang that was operating in the erstwhile North Arcot region, which comprises Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur and Tiruvannamalai districts. The WCCB have been analysing social media posts, online searches and phone calls details of arrested persons. Based on alerts, Ms. Gupta formed special police teams to nab the culprits.
Each member in the gang, on an average, had 50-100 grams of banned items as sample pieces for prospective buyers. A month ago, the gang managed to fix a prospective buyer from Coimbatore for the banned item for Rs 80 lakhs. The gang asked the buyer to come to Chengam town in Tiruvannamalai to get the consignment. As the buyer tipped off to local police about the banned item, the gang fled the spot.
Since then, police and the local unit of WCCB have been tracking the gang. Police lured the gang by pretending as prospective buyers to get the banned item. The gang asked the police team to come to several spots in Tirupattur before they were nabbed by the police. Cases were registered under Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022 for possession of prohibited items. Later, they were lodged at sub-jail in Tirupattur town.
Published - October 26, 2024 11:55 pm IST
