Raipur
The anti-poaching team of the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve has arrested three men from Sihar, Kathwa, and Kulhadighat for illegal possession and attempted sale of an elephant tusk. The operation followed a confidential tip-off about wildlife contraband kept at a residence in Kulhadighat.
On 20 March 2026, a team led by Forest Range Officer Dinesh Chaudhary conducted a search at the home of Padman, son of Sukalu Kamar, and recovered a 10-cm long elephant tusk with a circumference of 13 cm.
The search also found two bows, 12 arrows, a bird-hunting bow, two slingshots, a wild boar tusk, and a tuft of wild boar hair.
Investigations revealed that Padman had hidden the tusk inside a wall of his house for four years. Another accused, Sukhchand of Kathwa village, reportedly acquired the ivory in 2021 from Gangaram of Sihar village.
Gangaram died in a human-elephant conflict in September 2022. While the accused claimed Gangaram found the tusk in a field five years ago, forest officials are treating this claim as suspicious and have sent samples to the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, for DNA matching.
One of the arrested men, Pusauram, was previously involved in a sambar deer poaching case in Dadpani earlier this year and was out on bail at the time of his arrest.
The forest department has registered a case under sections 9, 39, 44, 49(B), 50, 51, and 52 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The accused were produced before the Rajim Civil Court and remanded to 14-day judicial custody in Gariyaband District Jail.
Authorities are currently tracking Padman, who remains at large. The operation involved coordinated efforts from Deputy Director Varun Jain, Anti-Poaching Nodal Officer Gopal Singh Kashyap, and the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve dog sniffer team.
