Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], February 14 (HBTV): Two elephant tusks worth approximately INR 2 crore have been reported stolen from the Pangode Army Camp in Thiruvananthapuram, officials said.
The tusks were taken from the Officers’ Mess inside the camp premises.
According to officials, based on a complaint filed by Subedar Vinod GS, the Poojappura Police have registered a case and launched an investigation. The case has been booked under Sections BNS 331(4) and 305(e).
Preliminary assessments indicate that the theft occurred after a DJ party held at the camp the previous day.
Official records state that the elephant tusks had been handed over to the Army by the government in 1929.
Police are continuing their inquiry to identify those responsible and recover the stolen items.
Earlier, the Ministry of Railways, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, launched an Artificial Intelligence-enabled Intrusion Detection System to prevent elephants from being hit by trains.
According to a release, the system uses Distributed Acoustic Sensors to detect the presence of elephants on railway tracks and alerts loco pilots, station masters and control rooms in real time.
The system components include optical fibre, hardware and pre-installed signatures of elephant locomotion. It is designed to generate alerts for loco pilots, station masters and the control room about the movement of elephants near railway tracks, enabling timely preventive action.
At present, the IDS system is operational over 141 route kilometres at critical and vulnerable locations identified by the forest department under the Northeast Frontier Railway.
Work on the IDS has also been sanctioned for identified corridors across Indian Railways, covering Northeast Frontier Railway (403.42 route kilometres), East Coast Railway (368.70 route kilometres), Southern Railway (55.85 route kilometres), Northern Railway (52 route kilometres), South Eastern Railway (55 route kilometres), North Eastern Railway (99.18 route kilometres), Western Railway (115 route kilometres) and East Central Railway (20.3 route kilometres).
In the event of any incident involving an elephant being hit by a train, zonal railways investigate the matter in close coordination with the forest department and take immediate steps, including imposing speed restrictions at designated locations and alerting train crews and station masters.
Regular meetings are conducted with forest officials to sensitise train crews. In the past five years, an average of 16 such incidents have been reported, the release stated.
(ANI)