Shillong, Aug 4: Four people have been arrested in a separate incident involving the smuggling of elephant tusks and suspected pangolin scales during a raid carried out by the Nongpoh Wildlife Range in Ri Bhoi.
Police carried out the first operation on July 18 along Umwang Road following an alert from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau about illegal trade on the Nongpoh–Umden route.
Forest personnel intercepted two men and recovered four elephant tusks believed to be of the Asiatic Elephant. The accused, Tras Khymdeit and Wilshon Khymdeit of Ri Bhoi, were taken into custody.
A case under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 has been registered and a probe is ongoing.
The second operation took place on August 2 at Shakhoikuna Village. The team stopped three suspects and seized two bags containing items suspected to be pangolin scales.
Two of them, Benedick Khymdeit of Ri Bhoi and Rupai Ingti of Kamrup, Assam, were arrested, while a third managed to flee. The seized articles were confiscated under the Wildlife Act and a separate case has been filed.
Officials said elephants and pangolins are listed among India’s most protected species, and trafficking in their parts poses a grave threat to biodiversity.
