GREEN SEA TURTLES SEIZED AT GANGARAMPUR DURING TRAFFICKING

By Partha Chatterjee (TNI Raiganj)

Webdesk, TNI Siliguri 7^th May, 2016: At least 10 Turtles were recovered en route to Gangarampur from Malda through illegal trafficking by the forest officials recently. The DFO Mr. Diparna Datta said to TNI that after getting a tip-off from the forest officials tracked a white Chevrolet (WB66R8691). 10 Turtles were kept in a bag inside the luggage passage of the vehicle. The Turtle is known as Green Sea Turtle. They live deep inside the ocean floor. The raid was conducted under the leadership of the Beat officer Mr. Sunil Kumar Ghosh and Mr. Upananda Roy. Two people named Bijay Pathorkata (30) and Debasish Das (39) were arrested by Kushmandi Range officers. The Kulik Range officer Mr. Paresh Ch Roy told that the turtles were trafficked from Sultanpur of Uttar Pradesh to Gangarampur. All the turtles were kept in Kulik Bird Sanctuary’s water body. The vehicle was also seized and kept at Karnajora Division Forest office.

Edited By: Snigdha Som (TNI Siliguri)
Photo: Partha Chatterjee (TNI)