Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s forest department arrested a man after allegedly recovering elephant tusks and deer antlers from his residence in Mayurbhanj district during an Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid into an alleged Rs 122-crore financial fraud on Wednesday.
The accused, Ishwar Bindhani, was arrested after forest officials seized the suspected wildlife articles from his house in Bisaul village under Kaptipada police station limits. He is expected to be produced before a court.
The ED had launched a search operation at Bindhani’s residence in connection with the alleged financial fraud, with the operation continuing for nearly 17 hours.
Forest officials joined the operation after the suspected wildlife articles were found. They seized the items and took them to the range office for examination and further investigation.
Meherban Alli, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Baripada Forest Division, said the suspected wildlife articles had been seized and the accused arrested.
“Wildlife articles were also found during the raid. We seized them and brought them to the range office for investigation. The accused will be produced before the court,” he said.
Some of the recovered antlers appeared to belong to a sambar or another deer species, but their identity would be established through examination, he said. The elephant tusks would also be sent for scientific testing to ascertain their authenticity and origin.
The ED had conducted searches at 10 locations in Odisha and West Bengal as part of its investigation into the alleged Rs 122-crore financial fraud.
Bindhani has been identified as the Odisha head of Kalpana Finance Services, which allegedly collected money from investors by promising attractive returns.
The recovery of the suspected wildlife articles has brought a separate wildlife-related investigation into the case, with forest officials examining whether their possession violated wildlife protection laws.
The financial fraud allegations and the suspected illegal possession of wildlife articles are being investigated separately by the respective agencies.
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