DEHRADUN: As many as 122 soft-shelled turtles, included under the Wildlife Protection Act, were seized from a car near Shakti Farm area of the district on Thursday morning.
The animals, classified as ‘schedule 1’ under the Wildlife Act, were found hidden in two bags in the four-wheeler. Udham Singh Nagar police said of the 122 rare turtles, 79 were alive, but 43 had died.
The soft-shelled turtles are in big demand in southeast Asian countries, where they are used in fine dining dishes. Cops said the recovered turtles worth several lakhs in the international market, but could not give an exact figure.
Giving information, Udham Singh Nagar SSP Nilesh Anand Bharney said on a tip off, a four member police team was deployed near the Shakti farm to intercept the car smuggling the rare animals.
When police tried to stop the car, the driver did not stop, after which police gave chase. The driver reportedly stopped the car near Nirmal Nagar and ran away. Bharney added that efforts were on to nab the driver at the earliest.
The turtles were brought to Sitarganj police station and the counting was done before the forest department team.
While probing the matter, the Udham Singh Nagar police found that the car belonged to Champavat resident Madan Singh Mehta. Following this, a case under Wildlife Protection Act was registered against the car owner.
Cops are trying to contact Mehta to know who was using his car. “It is a serious matter and we need to get into the depth of the matter. All those behind the animal smuggling racket would be soon arrested,” added the SSP.
Later, on the instructions of court, the turtles were handed over to the forest department team.
