UP Police, forest officials bust smuggling racket; two accused absconding
A joint operation in Mainpuri led to the seizure of 405 rare turtles and the arrest of two smugglers transporting them for illegal trade. (File Photo)
Mainpuri: A joint team of the Uttar Pradesh Police and the forest department seized 405 rare Indian flapshell turtles from suspected wildlife smugglers, officials said on Sunday.Acting on a tip-off, a team from the Kanpur unit of the police's Special Task Force (STF), Mainpuri Forest Range, and the Wildlife Control Bureau, Gorakhpur, intercepted a car on the Usrahaar-Kishni Road on Saturday and arrested Bareilly natives Amit Yadav and Kuldeep Chaturvedi.
Two other accused -- Santosh and Roop Singh -- managed to escape, the police said. Forest department sub-inspector Shivam Pathak told PTI that smuggling of rare turtles was rampant from the Mainpuri, Etawah and the Auraiya forest ranges. The smugglers transported the turtles to Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand, from where they were sent to China, he said.
"The arrested smugglers revealed that they caught and sold these turtles for Rs 8,000-10,000 each. STF teams are conducting raids to apprehend the absconding accused," Pathak said. An FIR has been registered at Mainpuri Forest Range police station and the arrested smugglers sent to jail, the officials said.
( Source : PTI )
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