TIMES OF INDIA (New Delhi) 21 September 13 115 turtles seized near Bangla border
Kolkata: The BSF seized 115 turtles which were being smuggled into Bangladesh near the Tentulberia Border Outpost in North 24-Parganas late on Thursday. The endangered turtles would have fetched Rs 25 lakh. TNNOn Thursday evening, the 40 Bn BSF under the command of Dinesh Murmu spotted a man with a haversack moving towards the unfenced international border. "On being challenged, he dropped the haversack and fled through the jute fields across the international border. On opening it, our men found 72 spotted pond turtles and 43 narrow-headed soft shell turtles," an officer said.
State forest department officials were handed over the turtles at Tentulberia.
The Border Security Force (BSF) saved 115 turtles from ending up in cooking pots in some South East Asian country around midnight on Thursday. The tortoises were being smuggled across the international border into Bangladesh close to the Tentulberia Border Outpost in North 24-Parganas. The reptiles may have fetched up to Rs 25 lakh in the international market, it has been estimated.
On Thursday evening, the 40 Bn BSF under the command of Dinesh Murmu received intelligence inputs of a possible attempt to smuggle out turtles through the porous unfenced border. The BSF troops laid an ambush and waited for the smugglers. In the dark, they spotted a man lugging a heavy haversack towards the international border from the Indian side.
"On being challenged, the man dropped his load and fled through the jute fields across the international border. The border is not fenced there. A search led to the recovery of the haversack. On opening it, our men found 72 spotted pond turtles and 43 narrow-headed soft shell turtles. Both are endangered species," an officer said.
The state forest department was informed and officials travelled to Tentulberia to take charge of the reptiles. The spotted pond turtle is a protected species under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. The striped narrow-headed soft shell turtle is protected under Schedule IV of the Act and is one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world with a carapace that can reach an impressive length of 122 cm. According to Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), the narrow-headed soft shell turtle is in danger of total extinction in India due to trade pressures. Both varieties are exported to food markets in China from Bangladesh, officials said.
On September 1, the BSF had seized 952 star tortoises that were being smuggled into Bangladesh through North 24-Parganas. Since then, the BSF has urged the forest department to collect information on possible attempts to smuggle out animals and wildlife products through the Indo-Bangla border and pass it on to the border guarding force. Forest officials have also been invited to attend meetings on security issues that are convened by the BSF routinely.
Link