Officials of the Forest department released the Indian star tortoises into the forest, after conducting ‘panchanama’ on Wednesday.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), in association with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Forest department seized 406 tortoises, allegedly being smuggled in the Vivek Express at the Vijayawada railway station on Tuesday. “As there was thereat to the lives of the tortoises, which are an endangered species, we released them into forest after conducting panchanama,” said Krishna District Forest Officer P.J. Benarjee.
The DRI officials, who busted the racket, arrested two smugglers of the gang earlier.
Based on their confession, they arrested two women of Chittoor district and seized the tortoises, packed in four sacks.
“The gang is operating on the borders of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and has links with international smugglers. The gang has been operating since a few years and one of its members was arrested on similar charges earlier,” a DRI official told The Hindu .
“The suppliers are from Andhra Pradesh. The agents will collect tortoises and hand them over to the smugglers. The accused use women to avoid suspicion,” the officer said. The accused reportedly said they were transporting the tortoises by domestic flights or through ships.
More to be arrested
“The smuggler gang exported thousands of Indian star tortoises in the last few years. More members of the gang would be arrested soon,” the officer said.
Officers suspect that the tortoises were collected from the Palamaner forest and the sanctuary in Chittoor district.
