Bhubaneswar: Seizure of 406 Indian star tortoises by the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) at the Vijayawada railway station in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday has exposed city's links with illegal trade of endangered species that are under Schedule IV of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The DRI seized the reptiles from two women, who were travelling in Vivek Express from Dibrugarh to Kanyakumari in the general compartment. Both the women later confessed to being directed by a man to hand over the tortoises to a person in Bhubaneswar for exporting them to Bangladesh.

In February last year, police and forest officials had seized 10 Indian star tortoises from a pet shop at Saheed Nagar. The police had also arrested two persons Tara Kanak of Bengal and Kumar Prasanta Mallick of VSS Nagar in this connection.

A forest official said the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) had declared star tortoises as vulnerable species. They fetch Rs 25,000 each in the international market.

"These are not edible and are kept for decorative purpose. Besides, keeping these tortoises are considered to bring prosperity for which these are smuggled," said a forest official.

The tortoise is considered incarnations of Lord Vishnu in almost all temples in Parlakhemundi of Gajapati district for which a small population of the reptiles is protected at various temples of the town.

"The reptiles are found in wild and have sizeable population in the state. However, the star tortoises from South India are in high demand," said a forest official.

The crime branch, which also deals with organised smuggling of wildlife, suspected that the city had become the link for smuggling due to crackdown by various agencies in the south.

"Security agencies have started to crack the whip on smugglers transporting the reptiles to Bengal through Bhubaneswar. The tortoise are subsequently smuggled to Bangladesh from where they reach international markets such as Thailand and Hong Kong," said a crime branch official.