A press release issued on Wednesday by Sadanand Wayse Patil, superintendent of Pune Railway Police, said the patrolling team of local crime branch, led by inspector Maula Sayyad, nabbed Mohan and Kamal while they were travelling in Chennai LTT Express on Tuesday.
Police have arrested two passengers in connection with the alleged smuggling of protected animals, including tortoises, iguanas and fish.
Police identified the two accused as Tarunkumar Mohan (26) and Shrinivasan Kamal (20), both from Tamil Nadu.
According to police, they have seized 279 African spurred tortoises, 1,207 iguanas and 230 betta fish from the accused.
A press release issued on Wednesday by Sadanand Wayse Patil, superintendent of Pune Railway Police, said the patrolling team of local crime branch, led by inspector Maula Sayyad, nabbed Mohan and Kamal while they were travelling in Chennai LTT Express on Tuesday.
Police said they found four travel bags in their possession and, during a search, found protected animals, including tortoises, iguanas and fish, in these bags. The accused did not have documents required for transportation of these animals, police added.
Railway police officials then informed the forest department about the case. The animals were seized and taken to RESQ Charitable Trust at Bavdhan for identification and counting, police said.
The press release further stated that the seized animals belong to foreign species and were transported without permission from the customs department. The accused were also handed over to the customs department for further investigation, it stated.
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