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Uttarakhand forest dept rescues 20 more turtles, man booked
On Tuesday, the forest team rescued 33 turtles from a wildlife smuggler from the Pullbhatta barrier on Bareilly road in Udham Singh Nagar district.
A day after recovering 33 turtles in Udham Singh Nagar district, the Uttarakhand forest department has arrested a man on the charges of wildlife smuggling in the district and recovered 20 turtles from his possession, an official said on Wednesday.
Abhilasha Singh, divisional forest officer (DFO) Terai Central forest division, said a forest team patrolling at Mahtosh road on Kashipur road on Wednesday evening asked a person, who was coming on a bike, to stop. “But he didn’t stop and just ran away. The forest team chased and caught him,” she said.
The DFO further said the forest team recovered 20 turtles from his bag.
“The wildlife smuggler has been identified as Kuldeep, the son of Natthula, a resident of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh. We have booked him under relevant sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972,” she said.
On Tuesday, the forest team rescued 33 turtles from a wildlife smuggler from the Pullbhatta barrier on Bareilly road in Udham Singh Nagar district. In March, police rescued 16 turtles in Kichha area of US Nagar and arrested two women from whom they were recovered.
Turtles are killed for their meat and are in good demand in some areas of US Nagar like Dineshpur, Transit camp and Shaktifarm.
