Four persons in illegal possession of a pair of horns of a rare white rhinoceros were arrested from Lajpat Nagar, police said on Saturday.
The accused, identified as Deepak Sharma, 57, Suresh Kumar, 57, Sant Ram, 57, Anil Kumar Sethi, 60, have been booked under various sections of the BNS and Wild Life (Protection) Act.
Following a tip-off, police officers acted as decoy customers and approached the accused to buy the horns. The deal was finalised for ₹1 crore, the officer said. As the police learnt about the accused’s location, they raided a flat in Lajpat Nagar and recovered the two horns.
Accused Deepak disclosed that his family had the horns since his grandfather’s time. The horns were of an African rhinoceros and had been in his house for over 90 years, the police officer said.
Hit by COVID-19, Deepak said his business was at risk with ₹35 lakh debt. Knowing the horns were rare and could fetch over ₹3 crore, he lured another accused, Suresh, with a commission to help him sell them..
Published – January 12, 2025 01:51 am IST