Over 2,500 turtles rescued from smugglers in Etawah

KANPUR: A joint team of police, forest department officials and Society for Conservation of Nature (SCON) raided a truck and a van near Dumila village in Saifai police area in Etawah on late Friday night and rescued over 2,583 Indian flapshell turtle (Lissemys punctata) locally known as ‘sundari’ and Indian softshell turtles (Nilssonia gangetica) locally known as ‘katahwa’. Over 30 kg of dried calipee of turtles being smuggled in several sacks by the gang of animal smugglers was also recovered.The police have seized the vehicles being used by the wildlife smugglers.
Five persons were arrested while the truck driver managed to flee the spot.
The species has been categorised under the Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
The seizure, claimed by the wildlife activists to be one of the biggest in recent times, has brought to fore the lucrative turtle business flourishing in and around the region.
The arrested persons have been identified as Sumit, Suresh, Kali Charan, Jagdish and Kaptan Singh.
“There were specific inputs that a huge consignment of turtles would be taken out of the district. Immediately, we laid a trap with the help of forest department and SCON teams and conducted raids at Dumila village area in Saifai. We managed to apprehend the truck and a van. In the recent times, it is probably the highest number of turtles recovered in Etawah,” said SSP Akash Tomar.
“We are trying to locate the whereabouts of the mastermind of the gang and raids are underway to make his arrest possible,” police said.
The cost of the seized turtles and its calipee has been pegged at around Rs 1 crore. “The accused said they would have fetched anything between Rs 1 crore for the turtle consignment,” claimed an official.
Rajiv Chauhan, secretary general, SCON said: “Every year, the turtle smugglers become active once the level of waterbodies goes low. They then trap the turtles from ponds and rivers. It’s a wake-up call for authorities and the two districts including Etawah and Mainpuri known for turtle population require extensive monitoring.”
Another SCON officer Sanjiv Chauhan said that the species is killed rampantly by wildlife smugglers as there is a myth that turtles have many medicinal uses, but there is no scientific proof of such. “Both the species are categorised under Schedule-I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972,” he added.
Meanwhile, SSP Etawah has announced a cash reward of Rs 25,000 to the raiding team.