2 smugglers held in Naka, 296 turtles recovered from them

LUCKNOW: Two persons, suspected to be a part of an international wildlife smuggling racket, were arrested in Naka area here on Sunday night. As many as 296 turtles of rare species - costing around ` 3 lakh in the international market - were recovered by cops from their possession.

The incident came after a series of turtle recoveries made recently in Mainpuri district. The trend hinted towards large-scale turtle smuggling from Uttar Pradesh, which required urgent measures by forest officials to curb it. Sources said the turtles were smuggled from here because of huge demand in South-East Asian countries.

“The two persons, identified as Dhar mendra Kumar Gautama nd Mohd Haneef, were carrying the turtles in five bags. They were arrested from Nattha trisection in Charbagh while trying to board a bus. However, one of their accomplices, Sadiq Hussain managed to escape from the spot,” said Dhirendra Kumar Yadav, SO, Naka.

He said the arrested persons were basically carriers and their job was to deliver the turtles to the desired destinations, as directed by their bosses. During interrogation, they revealed that they brought the turtles from some place in Gonda and were planning to take them to West Bengal.

“We are probing about the wildlife smuggling network and have even informed the forest authorities,” he said, adding, “The recovered turtles were handed over the forest officials.”

Sources said the arrested persons were associated with a Mainpuri-based wildlife smuggling racket. On February 27, around 810 turtles were recovered from Mainpuri district, but the smugglers managed to escape.

On February 3, a truck ferrying more than 3,000 turtles from Mainpuri was siezed in Dumka Forest division of Jharkhand.

Besides, 50 turtles were recovered from Mainpuri in January while 124 and 20 turtles respectively were recovered f rom the same district in December and November, 2015 respectively.