Lucknow, July 19 (IANS) The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh arrested a member of an international turtle smuggling gang in the Kanpur district and rescued 171 turtles from him, officials said on Sunday.
The crackdown was carried out on July 18, when the STF achieved significant success by arresting Zahid Ali, a resident of Village Bhatpura in the Police Station Kamalganj of Fatehgarh, near the railway crossing within the jurisdiction of Police Station Harbansh Mohal of the Kanpur district. One mobile phone, Aadhaar Card, and 171 turtles (Indian Roofed Turtle) were recovered during the operation.
“At the initiative of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (Government of India), the STF has been taking effective action against turtle smuggling in Uttar Pradesh for several years. Of the 29 turtle species found in India, 15 are found in Uttar Pradesh. Eleven of these species are subject to illegal trade,” officials said.
They added that this illicit trade involves live turtles (for meat or as pets) or the drying of turtle calipee (membranes) for use in potency-enhancing medicines. Turtles are classified into ‘soft-shell’ and ‘hard-shell’ categories. These turtles are found in abundance in rivers such as the Yamuna, Chambal, Ganga, Gomti, Ghaghara, and Gandak, as well as their tributaries and in ponds.
Investigators said that for some time, the UP STF had been receiving information regarding the activity of smugglers involved in trafficking protected turtle species. In this regard, various units and teams were directed to gather intelligence and take action.
Acting on these instructions, and under the supervision of Avnishwar Chandra Srivastava, Additional Superintendent of Police, STF UP, Lucknow, intelligence gathering revealed that turtle smugglers from various districts of the state were engaged in large-scale trafficking of different turtle species.
“It was also learned that these traders maintain contact with dealers in West Bengal to sell the contraband; from there, the consignment is routed through Bangladesh and Myanmar to countries such as China, Hong Kong, and Malaysia,” officials said.
An STF team led by Sub-Inspector Faizuddin Siddiqui was patrolling the Kanpur district, during which information was received that certain smugglers were arriving in Kanpur to traffic a large quantity of turtles.
Acting on this intelligence, a joint team, comprising the STF and the Forest Department (Kanpur Range), arrested the smuggler near the Harbansh Mohal railway crossing.
The accused revealed that he collects turtles from ponds and rivers in districts near Fatehgarh through local smugglers and subsequently, in collaboration with smugglers from Kanpur, supplies them to Bihar and West Bengal.
Officials said that a case is being registered against the accused at the Kanpur Forest Range under Sections 9, 39, 40, 48A, 51, and 57 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Necessary legal proceedings will be carried out by the Kanpur Forest Range.
Further details are awaited.
–IANS
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