Forest guard A. Mariappan (49) of Kujipatti Beat in Udumalpet Range was named as the first accused. Kannimuthu (52), a daily labourer residing in the forest settlement at Amaravathy Nagar, and R. Vijayakumar (29), a fish vendor in Amaravathy Nagar, were the second and third accused respectively.
Tracing the origin of a photograph of the tusks sent to him through WhatsApp from an unknown number, Forest Range Officer of Amaravathy Range narrowed it down to a person named Sakthi, and subsequently to one named Surya.
It then came to light that Surya had been asked by Mariappan to photograph the tusks.
When questioned by officials, Mariappan reportedly gave contradictory replies before revealing that he had handed over the tusks taken from the forest to one Kannimuthu, who, in turn, had passed on the tusks to Vijayakumar for safekeeping.
The tusks, one measuring a little over 56 cm and the other 61 cm in length, were seized from Vijayakumar’s house during the late hours on Tuesday.