Forest dept detains man for illegally keeping Indian roofed turtles
Forest department detained a man for illegally keeping in captivity two Indian roofed turtles at a private hotel in Talegaon
PUNE The forest department on Friday detained a man for illegally keeping in captivity two Indian roofed turtles, a species protected under Schedule-1 category of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, at a private hotel in Talegaon.
An offence has been registered against the 30-year-old accused Abhijit Rajendra Pathare, who is the owner of the hotel, under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and further investigation is underway, said a senior forest officer.
Based on the information provided by Aditya Paranjape, wildlife warden for Pune forest division, the team forest officials including forest guards Hanuman Jadhav, Mallinath Hiremath, Yogesh Kokate, Parameshwar Kasule under the guidance of NR Praveen chief conservator of forests and Mahadev Mohite, deputy conservator of forests, Pune raided the hotel and seized the turtles.
Paranjape said, “We intend to interrogate Pathare to uncover the illegal chain. The offence has been registered and the accused will be produced in court on Monday.”