A man was arrested with 113 rare tortoises while they were being smuggled to West Bengal from Jarwal road area in Bahraich, police said on Wednesday.

The accused identified as Shameem Ahmad was on Tuesday arrested and 113 tortoises of rare species Lissemys Punctata were recovered from his possession, they said.

Shameem told police that he got the tortoises from one Shareef in Gonda district and was planning to smuggle the consignment to Kolkata, police said.

West Bengal and Gonda police were being contacted to arrest associates of the nabbed accused, they added.