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KUALA LUMPUR: A 51-year-old suspected elephant killer was arrested for the illegal possession of a shotgun and elephant tusks at his house in Kampung Sugi in Gua Musang on Tuesday.
Villagers had heard gunshots and later found a dead elephant in the forest that day. They alerted personnel who were carrying out patrols under ‘Ops Bersepadu Khazanah’.
It is an ongoing joint-operation against wildlife poaching by the police, Forestry Department and the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan).
After recovering the mutilated carcass of an elephant at about 6pm, a team of personnel from the three agencies raided a house before arresting a 51-year-old orang asli man.
The raiding party seized a pair of elephant tusks, a shotgun, 31 rounds of ammunition and a chainsaw from the suspect.
It is learnt that the suspect had allegedly sawn off the tusks and legs of the elephant.
Kelantan police chief Commissioner Datuk Hassanuddin Hassan confirmed the arrest when contacted yesterday.
Ops Bersepadu Khazanah which was launched more than two weeks ago is making good progress in clamping down on poachers of wildlife in Malaysian forests.
About 50 people comprising locals and foreigners have been arrested and large seizures of protected flora and fauna were made since the operation began.
