Mumbai Crime: Smuggler arrested with 50 black pond turtles

The turtles were stashed in a bag that the accused was carrying

Acting on a tip-off, a team of the forest department, Kalyan Government Railway Police (GRP) and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) arrested a man from a lodge near Kalyan railway station and recovered more than 50 black pond turtles from him, of which four were already dead. According to the police, the Kalyan forest department had received information that the man, identified as Dilshan Ehedad, 25, was running an illegal online business of selling turtles. Thereafter, they laid the trap and nabbed him.

According to the police, when Ehedad failed to secure a job, he decided to start the illegal business. He acted as a middleman between farmers, who wished to sell the animals, and buyers, whom he got through various online sites.

The officials, who arrested the accused on Saturday night, are trying to find out further details regarding his business. "We received a tip-off that the accused was travelling from Patana Danpur to Kalyan. We were waiting at the Kalyan railway station in plain clothes. After he got down from a train and went to a nearby lodge, we arrested him from there. On checking his bags, we found the turtles stashed in one of them," said a Kalyan GRP officer.

Speaking to mid-day, Murlidhar Jagkar, an official of the forest department, said, "We have got the accused's custody for three days. The matter is being investigated further."

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