560 kg of deer antlers seized

CHENNAI: The Railway Police on Monday seized 560 kg of deer antlers meant for export to the United States and Germany at the Central railway station here. The export of manufactured articles and shavings of deer antlers was prohibited by the Director General of Foreign Trade of the Government of India in 1998. Inspector Sekar of the Central Railway Police told Express that the consignment was seized when it was brought to the commercial tax office for parcel booking by two courier agents around 5.30 pm. “Since the goods had an odd appearance, the staff became suspicious and informed us,” he said. “The sender’s address bore the name of a courier company in Kodambakkam.” The horns, cut into pieces ranging from one to three inches, had been packed in 33 cartons, each weighing 17 kg. Out of the total 560 kg of horn pieces, 200 kg were in the form of coat buttons, the inspector said.Questioned, the courier agents V Hariharan (40) of Medavakkam and P K Mani of Triplicane claimed that they were buffalo horns.  Called in by the Railway Police, a forest department official rebutted their claims and said they were deer antler pieces, the export of which is banned.Arrested under the Indian Forest Act and grilled further, the duo said the consignment was to be sent by train to New Delhi from where they would make their way to US and Germany.The inspector said the cell phones of the two booking agents had been seized and efforts were underway to trace their contacts through call details.