The rescued turtles at Dhulagarh on Saturday

KOLKATA: Officials from CID and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau collectively raided a truck near the Dhulagarh toll plaza and rescued around 2,500 Indian soft shell turtles. While 1,799 of them could be sent to the Salt Lake Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, the rest were declared dead during transportation from Bhubaneswar in Odisha. Four persons were arrested.

The seizure - claimed by the CID to be one of the highest in terms of quantity - has again exposed the lucrative turtle business in Bengal. "Gaighata and Bangaon have emerged as major hubs where people buy turtles for their meat - even from across the border," said a CID official. The species has been categorised under the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

"On Saturday morning, we received inputs that a consignment of the endangered species would come through NH-6. Accordingly, we communicated with Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and forest department officials and conducted raids at Birati and Dhulagarh toll tax areas. We managed to apprehend the truck at Dhulagarh. This is probably the highest number of turtles recovered in Bengal and the second highest in India as reported by WCCB ," said DIG (operations) Nishat Pervez .

The team seized 92 plastic cartons and the cost of the turtles has been pegged at Rs 20 lakh. "The accused bought the turtles for Rs 170-Rs 200 a kg. They sold them for anything between Rs 400 and Rs 600at the borders," claimed an official.

Accused Uttam Singha and Nitai Das were from Gaighata while truck helper Dipankar Mondal and driver Debasish Das were from Bongaon. The truck, too, has been seized.

"We are trying to identify the source from where these turtles were being brought," said an officer.

