Nagpur: A parcel, booked as a ‘colourful aquarium’ in Chennai, turned out to be a bunch of more than 50 alive small domestic tortoises in Nagpur on Tuesday.
A 28-year-old man, identified as Yashwantrao Liyarlawal, was booked by the Railway protection force (RPF), central railway, for false declaration.
The parcel, which arrived at the Nagpur railway station by Tamil Nadu Express, had triggered curiosity as the tortoises started coming out of two packets found in the consignment. It’s learnt that the railway authorities came to know about the false declaration after Liyarlawal, a native of Chandrapur, had objected to the damaged parcel.
“The railway authorities were supposed to give the consignee (Liyarlawal) an open parcel but tortoises were spotted when they too conducted a check in the presence of RPF,” said senior divisional security commissioner, RPF, CR, Ashutosh Pandey.
An offence under section 163 of the Railways Act was invoked against Liyarlawal for false declaration. The forest department, summoned to ascertain the category of the tortoises, later declared them as ‘domesticated’.