Bijnor (Uttar Pradesh): Three wildlife traders were arrested from Chandpur Village in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday, when they unwittingly attempted to sell ivory and elephant molar teeth to a decoy customer. Two molar teeth weighing five kilogrammes each were seized from them in the undercover operation, jointly implemented by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UPSTF), the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).

“Elephant molars (teeth) have no value in the market; nevertheless, trading in them is illegal. The traders’ intended to cheat their customers by selling teeth instead of ivory. They used the Hindi term ‘haathi daant’ which literally translates to ‘elephant teeth’ but means ivory as well. Clever tactic, but no defence for them as extraction of molar teeth necessitates killing of the animal. The traders have therefore also been charged with illegal hunting in addition to illegal wildlife trade,” said Ashok Kumar, Vice-chairman, WTI.

The seizure followed months of communication by WTI enforcement team to strike a deal with the traders. On October 8, the date first fixed for the deal, the traders backed out at the last moment and temporarily broke all contact with the investigators. Later, however, communication was resumed and the deal was set for October 11.

“Even on the second date, they (traders) changed the venue for the deal several times, as a precautionary measure,” said the WTI official who assisted in the operation.

After several last minute changes, they fixed on a place. The traders were arrested by the authorities soon after they approached the decoy customer’s vehicle with the wildlife articles.

The accused Furqan Ali, Munsuf Ali and Choudhury are currently under judicial custody.