Ivory trade kingpin held from Bengal

Forest enforcers of Kerala net elusive ‘Calcutta Thankachi’

A four-member undercover team of forest enforcers from Kerala have arrested from West Bengal an elusive middle-aged woman suspected to be the kingpin of an international ivory racket.

Senior officers identified the accused as Sindhu, a resident of Pettah in Thiruvananthapuram, who goes by the moniker ‘Calcutta Thankachi.’

Chief Wildlife Warden, Kerala, Surendra Kumar authorised the operation, which also led to the simultaneous arrest of her son Ajeesh from a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram.

On March 12, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) had arrested her husband Sudheesh Chandra Babu and their daughter Amita on the charge of ivory smuggling.

The provenance of the charges against ‘Thankachi’ stems from the slaughter of wild elephants in Malayattoor, Vazhachal and Munnar forest divisions in the year 2014-15.

The shocking slaughter of at least 18 tuskers for their ivory came to light when one of the gang members, a forest watcher who moonlighted as a guide for the poachers, felt a ‘conscience prick.’

K. D. Kunjumon's confession on May 21, 2015, to officers at Athirapally forest range had prompted forest enforcers T. Uma and her husband Kamalahar among others to launch ‘Operation Shikkar,’ a watershed in wildlife crime investigation that resulted in the seizure of 464 kg of ivory and arrest of 73 persons.

Sweeping probe

The sweeping probe that unfolded fast across the country revealed how poachers shot elephants dead on order, hacked the tusks from their head using camp axes and delivered the ivory to Thiruvananthapuram-based middle-men who had contracted artisans to fashion them into artefacts for wealthy collectors.

Enforcers said that ‘Thankachi’ shifted base from Thiruvananthapuram to WB and hired scores of traditional artisans from Thiruvananthapuram to carve ivory and accommodated them in safe houses there.

Investigators said they were tracking her Mumbai-based associate, who goes by the name ‘Pi Mundi’ and both were responsible for the resurgence of the ivory trade in India.

They have sought her custody for further questioning, sources said.

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