By IANS,
Lucknow : Four poachers have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district and several tortoises have been seized from their possession, police said Wednesday.
The four were nabbed Tuesday night along with 12 tortoises in Badaun’s Bagrain area, some 280-km from Lucknow. Their four aides, however, managed to escape with sacks containing nearly 90 other tortoises, police added.
“The four men have admitted that they work for a Kolkata-based team involved in wildlife trade of various animals including leopards and peacocks and other endangered species,” police inspector Vijay Singh told reporters.
“Though the 12 tortoises we have seized do not belong to any rare species, those arrested have admitted that their aides who managed to escape had some star tortoises that come under the endangered category,” he added.
According to police, some of the tortoises were alive and were handed over to forest officials.
India has banned the trade of tortoises under the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act but the huge premium and lax laws are increasingly luring poachers to the trade.
“A case under Section 9 (prohibition of hunting) and Section 49B (prohibition of animal trading) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 has been lodged against the four,” Singh said.
Tortoises are killed for their meat and are also used in preparation of some medicines, officials said.