193 turtles seized, four arrested in Bilhaur

KANPUR: The police on Saturday arrested four persons and recovered 193 turtles from them in Bilhaur area of the district.
They were identified as Rajiv Kumar Kanjar of Farrukhabad, Ram Singh of Kannauj along with Ghata and Amit Kumar of the district.
“We received a tip-off that a gang of four will be visiting the area with a consignment of turtles and sell it to a local.We also gathered information about the venue and date of the deal. On its basis, we set a trap on Saturday and arrested the four and seized 193 turtles from the two sacks being carried on two separate motorcycles. The turtles, were later handed over to forest department officials,” said SSI Shivakant Shukla at Shivrajpur police station.
Sources said that the turtles could cost around Rs 50,000. An offence under the Wild Life Prevention Act, 1972 has been registered against the four arrested. The police are investigating the case. Capturing, killing or selling freshwater turtles is punishable under the Act. It is a Schedule-I species and helps to keep the river clean. Traditionally, turtles act as scavengers consuming the corpses and other debris in the water.