The three accused arrested have been booked under section 50/51 of the Wildlife Protection Act.
Over 200 turtles were rescued last evening on from wildlife smugglers in Uttarakhand.
After receiving a tip off, the Rudrapur police set up a barricade on the main highway in Udham Singh Nagar district. During a routine vehicle check, the police stopped a white van with four people aboard. Upon closer inspection, the police found 222 turtles stuffed in sacks from the van with a Uttar Pradesh licence plate.
Three of the people, Guddi, Imran and Tapas hailing from Auriya were arrested by the police. The main culprit, however, managed to escape. The accused were smuggling the turtles across Uttarakhand state border when they were caught, the police said.
Turtles are believed to be in high demand around the harvest festival of Makar Sakranti. According to ancient Indian science of Vastu and Chinese Feng Shui, turtles are said to bring good luck and wealth to a household.
According to Jagdish Pathak, Station Officer of Rudrapur, the value of the turtles could well be in lakhs in the market today as they have been considered auspicious for centuries and rich people have been willing to pay any price to have them in their homes.
The three accused arrested have been booked under section 50/51 of the Wildlife Protection Act. The rescued turtles have been handed over the Uttarakhand Forest Department to be released in the wild.