<![CDATA[The Mahalakshmi Layout police belonging to the Bengaluru Police in a secret operation in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts of Tamil Nadu raided an ivory smuggling racket on Wednesday and arrested a gang of five men led by Khader Basha, who is believed to be a functionary of the DMK party. The six men are suspected of poaching elephants and other wildlife in Tamil Nadu and selling products, like tusks, in Karnataka. The police seized 12 tusks from the gang. Acting on a discrete piece of information, a police team posing as prospective clients, approached Naveen and Prakash who were in Bengaluru to sell elephant tusks. When the duo agreed to sell four tusks, they were promptly arrested with the poached goods. The police said that on interrogation, learned that they were part of a larger gang that operated out of Krishnagiri district. The leader of the gang was Khader Basha from Anchetty. On Wednesday, a special team led by the Inspector Mr.B.N. Lohith went to Basha’s house in Anchetty. An officer who was part of the team said that Basha rallied DMK party workers in his hometown and tried to resist arrest by organizing a mob. The angry mob surrounded the police team and threatened to attack them if they did not release Basha. The police team had to seek the help of their Tamil Nadu counterparts who rushed to the spot and dispersed the agitated mob. Another police team raided the houses of three of his associates namely Javed, Shabarinath and Satish Kumar in Dharmapuri district. They recovered four tusks sawed in half. Basha and the other three accused were brought to Bengaluru and booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and also under the Wildlife Protection Act. A senior police officer said that the initial probe has revealed that Basha is the kingpin of the racket. He ran a gang that would poach animals in the forests of Krishnagiri and Hosur districts. The police are investigating if the gang has a place to illegally store wildlife products meant for sale in the black market.]]>
