Ranchi, Nov. 16: A wildlife smuggler was arrested with 305 freshwater turtles classified vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) from a Malda-bound train at Barharwa railway station in Sahebganj district of Santhal Pargana last night.
Babli Pattharkat (30) was supposed to deliver the live Indian softshell turtles ( Nilssonia gangetica), accorded protected status and falling under Schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act 1972, to another wildlife smuggler in Malda.
Acting on intelligence inputs, a Railway Protection Force (RPF) team, led by inspector Ajay Kumar, halted Anand Bihar-Malda Town Weekly Express at Barharwa, around 110km from Malda and 500km from Ranchi, and began search operations around 10.10pm yesterday.
The turtles were found stuffed in two gunny bags on berth No. 23 in S4.
During interrogation, Pattharkat, a resident of Pakri village in Piparpur area of Sultanpur district, Uttar Pradesh, revealed he boarded the train at Varanasi junction. He is likely to be booked under Section 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act.
It is suspected that the Indian softshell turtles, which were all alive, were fished out from Ganga in Varanasi. They weighed between 1.5kg and 3.5kg each.
The RPF contacted forest department officials, including Barharwa ranger Ravindra Tiwari and forester Arvind Kumar Ghosh, for safe release of the rescued reptiles.
"This variety of turtles is listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, which prohibits their hunting, smuggling, sale and purchase," said Ghosh.
Wildlife expert D.S. Srivastava, who is also a member of National Board of Wildlife, said, "These freshwater variety of turtles is mainly smuggled for its meat consumption in Bengal and Bangladesh, besides being exported to Thailand, where turtle soup is popular. Since the turtles come under protected species, they are sold for Rs 10,000 per kg."
The RPF handed over the turtles to the forest department after completing required legal procedures. A forest department team, led by Ghosh, later released the reptiles in the Ganges at Rajmahal.
