KOCHI:Forest Department officials investigating the Edamalayar elephant poaching case on Tuesday arrested an accomplice of poaching racket kingpin Vasu, the Kothamangalam-native who was found dead at his hideout in Mumbai on Monday.
With the latest arrest, a total of 20 persons have fallen into police net in connection with the elephant poaching and ivory trade cases.
The officials also seized two vehicles used for transporting the contraband. The arrested, Ajeesh of Kuttampuzha in Kothamangalam, was taken into custody from his hideout that was a hub of the poaching racket. Based on his statement, the officials seized a Maruti Zen car owned by Eldhose, one of the poachers, and an autorickshaw owned by Ajeesh.
Meanwhile, a team of Forest Department officials left for Dodamarg in Maharashtra to investigate the circumstances that led to the mysterious death of Vasu. Speaking to Express, an officer in charge of the investigation said the postmortem had confirmed suicide.
The investigation team has taken along Manoj, who owns the farm house where Vasu was found dead.
