The Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force on Sunday recovered over 1,300 Indian flapshell turtles from a truck in Kanpur as they were allegedly being taken to West Bengal for smuggling out of the country, officials said.
Senior police official T B Singh said they also arrested the truck driver Rambrash Yadav (48) and helper Vinod Kumar Savira for their alleged involvement in smuggling of turtles.
The turtles being smuggled to Vangaon in West Bengal were found stuffed in sacks and some even lay scattered on the floor of the truck, Mr Singh added.
We are investigating further and looking at the possible involvement of more people, especially smuggling rackets, he said.
During interrogation, the arrested men confessed to the STF officials that a number of poachers were involved in catching turtles from Etah, Etawah and Farrukhabad in UP and supplying the reptiles to organised smugglers for transportation to Kolkata, Mr Singh said.
From West Bengal, the turtles are then smuggled out of the country to China, Thailand, Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian countries via Bangladesh and Myanmar, Mr Singh added.
Fake Call Centre Run By Woman-Led Gang Busted In Noida, 8 Arrested 15 Arrested In UP For Planning To Leak Question Papers Of Police Recruitment Exam Noida Call Centre Duping Foreigners Busted, 25 Arrested Russia Launches ICBM At Ukraine In Stern Message To Kyiv, Western Allies Meet 69-Year-Old St Stephen's Alumnus Who Posed As Ex IPS To Con Officials Ellen DeGeneres, Partner Portia de Rossi Leave US After Trump's Win: Report Staggered Timings For Government Staff In Delhi Due To Air Pollution "Shocked By Abduction Of Uganda Opposition Leader": UN Human Rights Chief Drugs, Mega Land Deal: Builder Duped Of Rs 1 Crore In 'Digital Arrest' Scam Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.