An astrologer and his nephew have been arrested from Bhowanipore by a forest department team for allegedly trying to sell items labelled as elephant parts on an online portal.

Prabal Choudhury, 57, from Belghoria, was picked up from his sister's house in Bhowanipore along with the sister's 22-year-old son.

The Indian elephant is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. The law also bars trade in any parts of the animal.

An officer of the wildlife crime control board said Choudhury used to run a consultation chamber on the ground floor of his sister's house in Bhowanipore, where he had been staying lately.

The astrologer had posted an advertisement on an online portal claiming he had "elephant pearls" for sale. A forest department officer said elephant pearls - which only exists in myths and is believed to form in the skull of an elephant - is considered auspicious.

"I have never come across or heard about the discovery of an elephant pearl. The pearl is part of mythical lores but many people believe it exists," the officer said.

The nephew had allegedly helped him put up the advertisement, which contained Choudhury's bank account number and cell phone number.

Following a tip-off about the advertisement, an officer of the forest department called up Choudhury posing as a prospective buyer. Forest department sources said the astrologer asked the officer for Rs 1 crore for each pearl.

The officer told him he could not pay so much money and disconnected the call. Choudhury called him back and asked him to visit his chamber on Thursday evening.

"Some officers went to his house posing as buyers. He showed them 10 such round objects claiming them to be elephant pearls. He was arrested when he was trying to sell them as wildlife parts. We are probing if others are involved in this racket," said Pradeep Vyas, the chief wildlife warden and principal conservator of forests, Bengal.

The team seized the objects, which will be sent to the Zoological Survey of India for tests.

"We will run several tests to find out what the objects are made of," Vyas said.

Choudhury has apparently told foresters that he had bought these objects from herb-sellers at various fairs in Bankura, Purulia and Burdwan.