689 endangered soft-shell turtles recovered

Kolkata: The state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has recovered 689 endangered turtles from an Express train and detained four persons.

According to the CID, sleuths got a tip-off recently about a smuggling activity of the turtles in the state. Based on information, sleuths were able to obtain valuable information and managed to get hold of the smugglers' identities. They came to know that the turtles would be brought from Varanasi.

On Tuesday, sleuths from CID's Durgapur division boarded Doon Express and identified the smugglers. Immediately, they were surrounded by the police. While conducting searches, the CID officers recovered 689 soft -shell river turtles from inside a sack.

Immediately, the four accused persons — identified as Lachman Kumar, Raj Kumar, Sushil Kumar, Raju Kumar of Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh, were detained and forced to get off the train.

Later, the accused persons stated that they were going to dispose of those turtles at Bandel Station. The accused persons and the turtles were handed over to the Range Officer of the Forest Department for further action.