Cuttack, June 3: A three-member team of the crime branch today started a probe to ascertain the links of the nine poachers nabbed in Boudh yesterday with other elephant poaching gangs active in the state.

The crime branch also suspects a nexus between the poachers and some forest officials. Yesterday, the District Voluntary Force took the nine poachers into custody in Boudh during a combing operation in Kandara-Kanchapaju area.

Two tusks cut into eight pieces weighing nearly 19kg, three country-made guns, gunpowder, chemicals and an axe were recovered from the gang members.

Crime branch officials said that this was the first ever finding of an organised poaching racket in Boudh district. The officials suspect that the gang members were also involved in several elephant poaching cases in Narsanghpur and other parts of Cuttack district.

The arrested poachers have been identified as Murali Mahalick, Dharmaraj Nayak, Gopal Nayak, Babuli Mahalick and Prakash Behera of Cuttack and Manoranjan Pradhan, Saubhagya Pradhan and Panchanan and Manmath Kanhar of Boudh. "We will bring the accused on remand to ascertain how they could easily enter the reserve forest area to commit the crime. The role of a few forest officials will also be examined during the probe," said special director general (crime branch) B.K. Sharma.