Amethi police seizes exotic turtles worth Rs 6 lakh from wildlife smuggler

The turtle smugglers used to catch the exotic species from the ponds, lakes and river and sell them in black-market in Kolkata. The police who acted on a tip-off said the haul has had 502 turtles.

Amethi:The citypolice on Wednesday recovered 502 banned turtles from a wildlife smuggler who was on his way to sell the haul in Kolkata.

According to the police, the turtles cost around Rs 6 lakh in the black market of the wildlife smugglers.

Ramesh - the smuggler - who confessed to the crime revealed that he and his friends catch the turtles from nearby ponds, lake and river. They then go to Kolkata where they get a good price for the catch.

"We were going to sell these 502 turtles for which we might have gotten around Rs 6 lakh," Ramesh told.

Dinesh Singh, Superintendent of Police, Amethi while talking to the media said that Ramesh was caught on Wednesday after the police got a tip-off.

"Inspector Rajesh Kumar Singh along with his team nabbed Ramesh as he was on his way to Kolkata with the 502 exotic turtles. Ramesh is from Gandhinagar village," Singh said.

"Legal action has been initiated under the Wildlife Protection Act," the SP said.

He added that while Ramesh was arrested, his accomplice Vishal managed to escape and search operations on to catch him.