Wildlife smuggler carrying 100 baby turtles in bag on scooter arrested | Delhi News
Wildlife smuggler carrying 100 baby turtles in bag on scooter arrested | Delhi News
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A tip-off received by police on Tuesday about a smuggler’s bid to transport banned turtles prompted officials in Delhi’s Geeta Colony Police Station to set up a trap. A team led by Inspector Satyawan kept vigil in areas including Raja Ram Kohli Marg and beneath the Pusa Road flyover in Geeta Colony. This led to the arrest of a 38-year-old man, and a total of 100 baby turtles were recovered from him, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Bheem, has been involved in a smuggling operation of turtles and other species, police were told during interrogation. The accused is a resident of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. He further revealed that a case was recently registered against his associate Ravi Bhatnagar at the Nandgram Police Station, in Ghaziabad, for a similar offense.
“He procures the turtles from Ganga in Garhmukteshwar area called Garh Ganga and from the subsidiary rivers,” said DCP (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary. He added that a search operation was underway to apprehend Bhatnagar. On Tuesday, the team spotted Bheem on a scooter around 1:15 pm, carrying a large bag while coming from Shakarpur. After he was by the informant as the suspected smuggler, the man was apprehended.
Upon inspection of the bag, police found several live turtles. Bheem failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for possessing them, following which the team apprehended him while seizing his scooter along with the recovered turtles.
The Delhi Police has lodged a case against Bheem at the Geeta Colony Police Station under Sections 9/39/50/51 of the Wildlife Protection Act and Section 11(A) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, simultaneously passing the information about the seizure to the official of Wildlife Department.
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