Forest officials arrested four persons for selling an Indian Star Tortoise, a protected species, from near the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, Kaloor, on Thursday.
One person gave the law enforcers the slip. The arrested are Avarankutty of Mannarkad, Midhun P. Santhosh of Kottayam, S. Sreeraj of Alappuzha and Thankachan of Kasargode.
A motor bike was also taken into custody. The officials who arrested the accused were led by Raju K. Francis, Divisional Forest Officer, Ernakulam.