29k Turtles

Kanpur....................6
(With Pics)
Faiz.Siddiqui@timesgroup.com
Kanpur:Nearly, 67 endangered turtles, six among which are of Chitra -Indica specie and each nearly 50 kilogram in weight, were seized in the Civil Lines area of Etawah by the personnel of the Forest department in coordination with the Society for Conservation of Nature (Wildlife organisation) and City Police’s Special Operation Group from four poachers on Saturday.
The team seized 55 Sundari (Lissemys punctata), 6 Chitra -Indica (narrow-headed softshell turtle) and one Sonia (Nilssonia gangetica) turtle.
Of the 67, five turtles including one Sonia (Nilssonia gangetica) and four and four Sundari (Lissemys punctata) have been recovered in a dead state.
All the three species are highly endangered and in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as ‘threatened species’.
The smugglers were nabbed from near the Pilua Mahaveer temple near Yamuna river in Civil Lines area of the City.
“After hoarding the consignment they wanted to take the turtles to Nepal via Uttarakhand, when a joint team of Forest department, Wildlife Organisation -SCON and City’s SOG seized it with the arrest of four smugglers,” said Sanjay Singh, district forest officer Etawah.
Secretary, Society for Conservation of Nature Dr Rajiv Chauhan told TOI that of the 67, six of the turtles of Chitra species, are nearly 40 to 50 kg in weight. “Such heavy-weight endangered Chitra -Indica turtles have been seized in the region for the first time in the last two decades,” Chauhan claimed.
“The postmortem of five dead turtles will be conducted to ascertain the cause of their death. 62 turtles are being examined by veterinary doctors including Dr Manish and Dr Rajendra Singh. As per the doctors, the turtles are healthy and safe. These will be released in water-bodies soon,” said Sanjiv Chauhan, a senior SCON member.
The smugglers were identified as Jagdish, Seetu, Uday Veer Singh, all residents of Kokpura Friends colony area and Sadanand, a native of Shakti Farm in Sitarganj police area in Udham Singh nagar district of Uttarakhand. “Jagdish and Seetu are notorious turtle smugglers, and had been apprehended earlier also on several occasions,” informed Tabish Ahmad, Forest official.
Smuggling of endangered turtles, which are considered a delicacy, besides also used for medicinal purposes in north east parts of the country, has become a cause for concern for the Wildlife agencies, as there is no check on the poachers, who are smuggling aquatic endangered species in lieu of money.
A case has been registered against the four smugglers under relevant sections of the Wild Life protection act. “We are tracking the smugglers of Uttarakhand whom they were to supply these turtles,” said SOG incharge Satish Yadav.
The investigators further claimed that the smugglers have confessed to smuggling turtles earlier on several occasions.
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