The Railway Protection Force (RPF) on Saturday rescued 67 live turtles from a coach of Ajmer-Kishanganj Garib Nawaz Express at Kishanganj station.
“A team of RPF personnel recovered 68 live turtles from seven unclaimed bags in the S-5 coach of the train during a routine inspection. The train had come from Ajmer. However, no arrests have been made so far. The RPF has informed officials of the district forest department about the recovery of these turtles”, B M Dhar, RPF Inspector, told reporters here.
The Forest department official will take possession of the rescued turtles and initiate an investigation under the relevant sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, he added.
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Authorities suspect the turtles were poached from Ajmer and were being smuggled to Kolkata and other adjoining cities for international black markets, where the Indian turtles are in high demand as pets and for their meat, said another senior official of the RPF.
(Inputs from PTI)
