Rab recovers 14kg of ivory in Ctg
One suspect held
Rab has arrested a suspected wildlife smuggler with 14kgs of ivory and a buckskin worth Tk 1.37 crore from his flat in Chattogram's Panchlaish.
The arrestee is Abdul Malek, 68, of Sylhet's Kamalganj. However, he has been living in Rangamati's Bagaichari area for the last 40 years and owns around 12 elephants legally.
Rab-7's Chandgaon Camp Commander Major Mehedi Hasan told The Daily Star that a team of Rab, on information, raided the house of Malek in the Panchlaish area on Friday around 11:30pm.
"We had information about Malek's involvement in smuggling ivory and skins of deer," Major Mehedi Hasan said.
"After hours of searching, Rab found the ivory weighing 14kg and a buckskin inside a plastic sack under a cabinet of his flat. Later, Rab took him into custody for interrogation," he added.
"During interrogation, Malek said the tusks and buckskin were collected from the deep forests of Ali Kadam and Lama of Bandarban district. He had plans to send those to Sylhet border to smuggle those out of the country," said Maj Mehedi.
Rab yesterday filed a case accusing Malek of wildlife smuggling with the Panchlaish police station. Later, a court in the evening sent Malek to jail, said Officer-in-Charge (OC) Nazim Uddin of Panchlaish police station.
According to Rab, Malek owns 25 unlicensed elephants.
On Friday, a mobile court sentenced two people to six months' jail after they were held with four endangered hornbill birds in Banshkhali upazila. Police said they wanted to smuggle the birds to India after catching those from the deep forests in Ali Kadam of Bandarban.