Sultanpur (UP), Feb 10 (PTI) Police on Tuesday arrested two persons here and seized 205 protected Indian flapshell turtles from their possession, officials said.
The arrests were made near Hanumanganj Bypass on Varanasi Road under the Kotwali Dehat police station limits.
Station House Officer Dharmveer Singh said police received a tip-off that two persons were standing about 500 metres ahead of Hanumanganj Bypass carrying turtles in sacks and backpacks.
Acting on the information, a police team comprising head constable Virendra Kumar Mishra, Raju Singh, constables Sanjay Verma and Ajit Yadav, along with forest guard Gyan Singh Yadav, conducted a raid at the spot.
The police apprehended two persons, Babua and Pappu, both residents of Pakdi village
under Kotwali Dehat police station in Sultanpur district.
During the search, eight sacks containing 25 turtles each and two bags containing a total of five turtles were recovered from them, the official said.
During questioning, the accused admitted to being involved in illegal hunting and trade of turtles and failed to produce any licence or valid documents related to the seized wildlife, police said.
Both were arrested under relevant provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act. The recovered turtles were handed over to the forest department for necessary action to ensure their safety and survival, they added. PTI COR KIS ARB ARB
/images/ppid_a911dc6a-image-177074002727017161.webp)
