KOCHI: The diary of Aji Bright, the main accused in elephant poaching and tusk smuggling case and a native of Chackai, reportedly has the names of business tycoons. The diary contains the names of liquor business man Vijay Mallya, Aditya Birla and BCCI former president A C Mutthaiah.
According to the investigation team, the accused may have sold the tusks to these business men. The diary also contains the details of financial transactions between Aji and the businessmen. However, none of the accused in the case including Aji had revealed these businessmen’s names to the police.
When the arrest took place in July, Aji and his aides Anil and Vijayan were in the possession of 50 kg tusks and ivory idols. The police suspect they might have entered into a deal with the businessmen to make ivory idols for the latter.
They illegally hunted down elephants in areas such as Athirapally and Vazhachal and sold them the ivory in raw form or as idols.
Other arrested in the case such as Chacka Ravi, Pristone and Alva got the supply of tusks from elephant poachers. They in turn handed them over to Aji Bright. He and his aides then sought the help of craftsmen to build idols and sent them to cities such as Kolkata, Delhi, Jaipur and Hyderabad for sale.