57 turtles recovered in US Nagar distt: Police
HALDWANI: US Nagar police have recovered 57 turtles in Dineshpur town of the district while the driver of the car in which the turtles were being smuggled succeeded in escaping from the spot. Police have registered FIR against the wildlife smuggler under relevant sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, said officials.
Anil Upadhyay, in charge Dineshpur police station said on Tuesday, “We had received a tipoff about the smuggling of turtles in Udham Singh Nagar. We formed a team that conducted checking at Shamshan Ghat Road in Dineshpur on Monday evening. Suddenly, a car driver fled leaving his car on the spot after seeing the police checking. The police team chased the driver but he managed to flee. When the police team searched the car, it recovered 57 turtles from two bags”.
He said the car driver has been identified as Vishal Sarkar resident of Shakti Farm, Sitarganj in US Nagar district
Upadhyay said the preliminary investigation has revealed that they used to bring turtles and sell them in Dineshpur.
On May 10, US Nagar police had rescued a turtle weighing 40.5 kg and arrested a man while his accomplice managed to escape. The accused claimed that they caught the turtle from a river in Bareilly and were taking it to Dineshpur to sell it there
This is not the first such incident in the state. In December last year, police arrested two people in Udham Singh Nagar district and recovered 293 turtles from their possession.
Turtles are killed for their meat and are in good demand in some areas of US Nagar like Dineshpur, Transit camp and Shaktifarm. On August 14 lasy year, US Nagar police recovered 10 turtles in Dineshpur area of the district and arrested a man who was carrying them in a jute bag and for sale. In the same month, forest department arrested two people accused of smuggling turtles on HaldwaniSitarganj highway and four turtles from their possession. In September 2021, forest officials rescued 53 turtles in Udham Singh Nagar district and arrested two people.
ACCUSED CLAIMED THAT THEY CAUGHT TURTLE FROM A RIVER IN BAREILLY