Kochi: The forest department on Wednesday seized ivory and sandalwood worth Rs 10 lakh from the house of a north Indian in Kochi.
During the raid, the officials also found the horns of a rare breed of deer and nearly 50 bottles of foreign liquor, which were handed over to the excise department.
The flying squad of the forest department and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau carried out the raid at the house of Manish Gupta at Netaji Cross Road in Kadavanthara. Gupta is reportedly in Coimbatore. His wife and father were at the house during the time of the raid.
The two pieces of ivory belonged to a local elephant that was owned by a person from Angamaly. The elephant was aged 56. It is mandatory to obtain permission from the chief wildlife warden to possess or sell ivory.
District forest officer G. Prasad said Gupta's family could not present any document to explain the presence of ivory in their house.