VIJAYAWADA: A gang smuggling 500 Indian star Tortoises worth Rs 50 lakh was held by Krishna district police.
In a joint operation carried out by Krishna district special party police and Kalidindi rural sub-inspector T Ramakrishna’s team, two autorickshaws at Korukallu village limits were intercepted on Sunday morning. They found the gang was smuggling the tortoises to Odisha. From Odisha, the reptiles would be smuggled to Bangladesh and other countries via sea as there is a huge demand for them in the international market.
According to Krishna district Superintendent of Police (SP) M Ravindranath Babu, acting on a tip-off received from trusted sources police intercepted the vehicles and upon inspection, they found 500 Indian Star tortoises of different sizes packed in 45 bags and covered with clothes.
Indian star tortoises are an endangered species and are mentioned in the Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act-1972.
“After searching the two autos, we found the accused carrying the reptiles covered with clothes and other items in bags. Upon questioning, they admitted the tortoises of different sizes were collected by a person in Machilipatnam and were supposed to be handed over to another person in West Godavari district in order to export them,” said the SP. The police further reported the incident to Vijayawada Forest department officials, who reached the spot, collected the tortoises and sent them to safe custody. “Each tortoise is worth around `10,000 in the international market. Smugglers earlier used to raise tortoises in captivity. The demand for these tortoises escalated when people started rearing them as pets,” a forest department official said.
A case has been registered against the gang under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act and investigation is on to find the kingpin of the racket.