Mayurbhanj: Intensifying its crackdown on pangolin smuggling racket, the Special Task Force (STF) of Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested six more persons during a raid at Ambadiha village here.
The accused were identified as Agnisar Nayak (50), Lalmohan Nayak (45), Pratap Nayak (48) Keshab Dehuri (50), Gopinath Nayak (49) and Nakula Dehuri (42) of the village.
On December 7, four persons were arrested and forwarded to the court in this connection. The accused were identified as Balia Andhara Judia of Ambadiha colony in Udala, Janamejaya Naik of Ambadali and Raghunath Behera of Chakradharpur under Kaptipada in Mayurbhanj district and Debendra Das of Manudiha area under Basta in Balasore district.
Acting on reliable inputs, the STF team led by DSP TR Patel conducted a raid and arrested the accused persons. During the search, a piece of elephant tusk weighing 500 gm was recovered from the house of accused Agnisar.
Police have registered a case under Section 379/411/120 (b) IPC and under Section 51 of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 against the six accused persons.
The arrestees have been forwarded to the court after interrogation and further investigations are on to unearth more information regarding the pangolin smuggling racket network which spreads to different parts of the country and outside.