Hyderabad: A man was apprehended by the special operations team (SOT), L B Nagar zone and forest range officials, Hayath Nagar, for smuggling two elephant tusks worth Rs 3 crore on Wednesday, June 25.
The accused, Rekulakunta Prasad, 32, is a native of Rayachoti, Andhra Pradesh and is a previous offender.
In the month of February, he was arrested by the Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF), Tirupathi, in a log smuggling case and was sent to jail. There, he met Lokeshwar Reddy, who was also arrested in the Red Sanders logs smuggling case and was lodged in the same jail.
Both of the accused became acquainted, and after being released from jail, they hatched a plan to smuggle elephant ivory. Lokeshwar Reddy went to the Sheshachalam forest of Andhra Pradesh and procured two elephant tusks from Yanadula tribals.
After procuring the tusks, both of the accused boarded a private bus and planned to sell them in Hyderabad.
Acting on a tip-off, the police were able to apprehend the accused Prasad and seize the tusks from them. However, Lokeshwar Reddy managed to flee, and a search for him is underway.
