Accused confessed to having stolen the tusks from a temple in SindhudurgThe crime branch of the Mumbai police arrested two persons and seized elephants tusks worth over Rs7 lakh from them on Friday in Dahisar.
Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested Raju Gawde alias Vishram, 24, and Aniruddh Sawant alias Kishore, 48, at the Nancy Colony bus depot while they were looking for prospective customers to sell the full-sized ivory tusks.
According to the police, the duo was intercepted and the ivory tusks weighing 4.5 kg were found in their possession without any legal documents. After interrogation, the duo revealed that they had stolen the tusks from Shree Rameshwar Temple in Walaval village in Sindhudurg district.
Gawde, a mechanic by profession and Sawant, a broker, in their statements told the police that a person by the name of Walavalkar, who ran the Walavalkar Circus in the village, had donated the tusks to the temple after an elephant in circus died in 1960.
The tusks were mounted on the temple wall since then. “The duo had stolen the tusks in April 2007,” said police inspector Sudhir Dherekar, adding that the thieves were looking for customers since then.
Both were residents of the Walaval village and were regulars to the temple. They planned to steal the tusks considering its monetary value in the international market.
While the police are further investigating the case, the duo has been remanded in police custody till March 17.
“We are investigating if the duo has any criminal record in the city or in their native place. And, if they had contacted any one in particular, who showed interest in buying the tusks,” said Dherekar.
