Man arrested for poaching tusker in Dharmapuri escapes from forest officials The Times of India March 21, 2025 See link <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/man-arrested-for-poaching-tusker-in-dharmapuri-escapes-from-forest-officials/articleshowprint/119270732.cms> for photo. Dharmapuri: A man, who was arrested in an elephant poaching case in Dharmapuri district, escaped from forest department officials when they were taking him to a village along with two other suspects to recover the tusks they had removed from the carcass. On March 1, the carcass of a tusker was found in Pathanwadi reserve forest. The poachers removed the tusks and burnt the carcass. A case was registered under the Wildlife Act. On March 17, forest officials arrested G Senthil, 24, of Kongarapatty, his relative K Vijayakumar, 25, of Kongarapatty and V Dinesh, 30, of Bhavani in Erode district on charges of poaching an elephant and removing its tusks. DFO Rajangam told TOI that Dinesh had approached the others for elephant tusks sought by authorities of a Murugan temple in Kerala. He told the officials that the temple management had offered Rs 20 lakh for the tusks. Senthil and Vijayakumar used a country-made gun to poach the tusker on Feb 27. On March 18, forest officials took the men to Gopinatham, a village adjacent to Mettur in Salem district, to seize the tusks and the country-made gun used in poaching the elephant. Senthil managed to escape from forest officials while still being handcuffed. Though the officials pursued him for a short distance, they were unable to catch him. Forst department officials reported the incident to the Yeriyur police on Wednesday. The DFO said, "A case has been registered, and a search for Senthil has begun." https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/man-arrested-for-poaching-tusker-in-dharmapuri-escapes-from-forest-officials/articleshowprint/119270732.cms