Actor Mohanlal declares possession of ivory items under Kerala govt’s amnesty scheme

Kochi: Actor Mohanlal, who is facing trial at Perumbavoor munsiff court over illegal ivory possession, has declared he is in possession of nearly 10 elephant tusks and 13 ivory items.He made the declaration to Malayattoor divisional forest officials in March this year under the state forest department’s one time wildlife amnesty scheme.

The actor reportedly declared that the items, weighing around 46kg, were either received as gifts or inherited.The actor declared that the ivory idols are of deities including Tirupati Balaji, Lord Ram and Lord Krishna. The possession of ivory items by the actor came to light in 2011 during a raid by the IT department at his house in 2011 in Kochi.The latest wildlife amnesty scheme came into effect last year allowing individuals who are in possession of wildlife articles, to declare it in order to regularize it.Forest officials said they received the declaration from the actor and conducted an inspection at his house a month ago in this regard. “We received a lot of declarations from people who are in possession of wildlife articles including the skin of wild animals. With the declaration by the actor, we hope it will not have any bearing on the case,” said the officer.