Mysuru: The Forest Mobile Squad has arrested seven persons who stole ivory from a dead elephant at Kebbalamma Forest Range in Sathanur near Ramanagara.

The accused are Manoj, son of Suryaparakash from Bengaluru, Chandrakumar, son of M.B. Suresh of Mandya, D.Y. Abhishek, son of Yalakkaiah, Wasim Pasha, son of Anwar Pasha and Siddaraju, son of Siddarama. The names of the other two accused has not been revealed by the Police.

The accused were arrested from Madegowdanadoddi near Mandya. According to Forest officers, the tusker had died due to natural causes and the accused had sneaked into the forests with an intention to steal ivory. They cut open the elephant’s jaws and had removed the tusks and had carried them in a vehicle.

Two tusks, one Maruti Swift car and two bikes have been recovered from them. Conservator of Forest T. Heeralal and Deputy Conservator of Forests Poovaiah supervised the operation.