Chembur Police arrested four men for attempting to sell elephant tusks worth ₹3.5 crore in violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Acting on intelligence, the Crime Detection Unit laid a trap on April 22 at a hotel on RC Marg, where informants posed as buyers. During the raid, police seized two tusks weighing 11 kg and 20.6 kg, along with packing materials and mobile phones. Officials from the Maharashtra Forest Department confirmed the items were genuine elephant tusks. The accused – Akash Ashok Avhad, Sandip Randhir Bidlan, Shashank Chandrashekhar Ranjankar, and Dinesh Rammanohar Agnivanshi – were taken into custody, and a case was registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and wildlife laws.
Investigators are now tracing the source of the tusks and probing links to wider trafficking networks. The seizure highlights ongoing challenges in curbing illegal wildlife trade, which continues to thrive despite strict laws. Police said further investigation is underway to identify other members of the smuggling chain. The incident follows a similar case in February, when tusks worth ₹2 crore were stolen from Pangode Military Station in Kerala, underscoring the scale of ivory trafficking across India.