Police Rescues Crocodile, Tortoise from Juhu Home; Resident Arrested

Juhu police on Wednesday booked a 29-year-old Chinese food shop owner for allegedly keeping a crocodile and a turtle illegally at his residence

MUMBAI: Juhu police on Wednesday booked a 29-year-old Chinese food shop owner for allegedly keeping a crocodile and a turtle illegally at his residence.

Representational image. (Representational image/Pixabay)

Police said they received a tip-off that the amphibians were kept in a water tank in the house of Imran Ismail Sheikh, a Juhu resident. The animals were rescued following a police raid conducted at Sheikh’s home with the help of members of the NGO Serp Indian.

The wild animals were identified as an Indian mugger crocodile and an Indian spotted turtle, both of which are indexed in Schedule 1 of the ‘Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972’. The act outlaws keeping any such wild animal in any house or by a private individual as a pet; the act also prohibits keeping them in captivity or separating them from their natural habitat.

“He also kept the wild animals confined and separated them from their natural habitat based on which he was booked under Sections 9, 39, 48, and 51 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972,” a police officer said.