‘Smuggler’ arrested with 100 baby turtles
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Wednesday arrested a youth trying to illegally sell 100 turtles, mostly hatchlings, near northeast Delhi’s Geeta Colony as they busted a racket in which rare reptiles were being smuggled for the past six months. The turtles were stuffed in a bag being carried on a two-wheeler, and the ages of the reptiles can only be ascertained after tests, officials said. Some of the turtles were endangered species that are offered rigorous protection under the Wildlife Protection Act. The accused has been identified as Bheem Singh, 28.
Police said they received a tipoff around 1 pm that a man was smuggling dozens of turtles, adding that a group of animal activists had posed as decoy customers and ordered the turtles online from him. They were communicating on WhatsApp and Telegram.
DCP (Shahdara) Surendra Choudhary said the recovered turtles fall under the “banned” category, which means they cannot be kept as house pets or traded. “A team was deployed near Raja Ram Kohli Marg at the Pusta Road in Geeta Colony where he was caught,” the DCP said.
Police then carried the turtles to a police station, where they were kept in buckets filled with water. The reptiles were later carried shown to a judge at the Karkardooma court. The accused was also produced before the court.
Forest department officials said the turtles were finally taken to Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary in the evening.
Endangered, vulnerable
According to the initial assessment, the reptiles include 50 Indian-roofed turtles (Pangshura tecta), 45 black pond or spotted pond turtles (Geoclemys hamiltonii), three Indian-eyed turtles (Morenia petersi) and two Indian softshell turtles (Nilssonia gangetica). Police said each turtle would fetch the smugglers anywhere between ₹8,000 to ₹10,000 in the black market.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, the Indian roofed turtle is listed as “vulnerable and rare”, and the black pond, Indian-eyed and Indian softshell turtles are listed as “endangered”. Singh was booked under the Wildlife Protection Act and Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act.
Reports showed that the Indian-roofed turtles are found in major rivers and in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The black-spotted pond turtles are Schedule 1 species sold for $120 dollars online.
“The accused told us that he and his friend from Ghaziabad have been smuggling rare species of turtles for five to six months. He procures the species from the Ganga stretch in Garhmukteshwar area called Garh Ganga and from other subsidiary rivers,” said the officer quoted above.