Kerala: Two Elephant tusks worth Rs 2 crore stolen from Pangode army camp

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], February 14 (ANI): Two elephant tusks worth approximately Rs 2 crore have been reported stolen from the Pangode Army Camp in Thiruvananthapuram, said the officials.
The tusks were taken from the Officers' Mess inside the camp premises.
According to the officials, based on a complaint filed by Subaidar 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 the theft occurred after a DJ party at the camp the previous day.
According to official records, 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 & Climate Change, launched an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to prevent elephants from being hit by trains.
According to a release, the system uses Distributed Acoustic Sensors (DAS) 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. The system is designed to generate alerts for loco pilots, station masters, and the Control Room about the movement of elephants in the vicinity of railway tracks, enabling timely preventive action.
Presently, the IDS system is working over 141 Rkms (route kilometres) on critical & vulnerable locations identified by the forest department in Northeast Frontier Railway.
Works of IDS have also been sanctioned for identified corridors across Indian Railways covering NFR (403.42 Rkms), ECOR (368.70 Rkms), SR (55.85 Rkms), NR (52 Rkms), SER (55 Rkms), NER (99.18 Rkms), WR (115 Rkms) & ECR (20.3 Rkms).In case of any incident involving an elephant hitting a train, Zonal Railways investigate the matter in close coordination with the Forest department and takes immediate steps accordingly.
These include imposing appropriate speed restrictions at designated locations and alerting train crews and station masters.
Regular meetings with concerned forest officials are conducted to update and sensitise the train crew. In the past five years, an average of 16 incidents have been reported, the release said. (ANI)