Published on : 31 Oct 2025, 12:45 pm

It began as a routine Income Tax raid in 2011. When officials entered Malayalam superstar Mohanlal’s home in Kochi’s Thevara neighbourhood, they expected financial documents, perhaps some unaccounted cash. Instead, what they found were four gleaming elephant tusks and 13 intricately carved ivory artefacts displayed like heirlooms.

The officers seized them immediately under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, which strictly prohibits possession of ivory without government certification. The recovery made headlines across Kerala, a state that reveres its elephants as temple deities and cultural symbols. Yet, over time, the case slipped into silence, overtaken by the actor’s continuing fame and the bureaucracy’s quiet accommodations.

Fourteen year

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