Two elephant tusks worth several lakh of rupees were stolen from a museum in the Corbett National Park on Thursday morning. Kesar Singh, watchman of the Dhangadi Museum in Corbett, informed a senior official of the theft when he noticed that the lock on the main gate had been broken.“When the watchman entered the museum at 4 am, he saw that the lock was broken. Two elephant tusks, which were kept inside the museum, were also missing. He said he had not seen anyone entering the museum,” said the official.Director of Corbett National Park, Rajeev Bhartri, could not be contacted for comments.On being informed of the incident, the police arrived with a dog squad and began investigations. The thieves made a forced entry into the museum using iron rods and blade, they said. Officials revealed that more than one person had committed the theft.The tusks were 158 and 152 cm in length, 37 and 36 cm in diameter, and weighed 18.6 and 18.2 kg. They are very costly in the international market.“The price of the tusks depends upon the buyers. The minimum cost of the tusks could be Rs 2 lakh and it could go upto Rs 10 to 12 lakh,” said an official at the park. Dhangadi museum is situated at the entry gate of Dhikala tourist zone in the park. It is 30 years old and is open for tourists. Many wild animals and their body parts are preserved here. The stolen tusks were 16 years old and had been kept for display.
