280 turtles seized from smuggler in Kolkata

BARASAT: Around 280 turtles of rare species were recovered from the home of a villager near the India-Bangladesh border at Bongaon in North 24-Parganas on Saturday. The accused, Hafijur Rahaman, has been arrested.

Rahaman reportedly had plans to smuggle the turtles into Bangladesh where they would have been sold.

Acting on a tip-off, a police team from the Bongaon police station raided Rahaman home at Purbapara and found the turtles stashed in gunny bags in his courtyard.

"The turtles were found in 20 gunny bags. We are interrogating the accused. We are investigating if more people are involved in the racket," said Bhaskar Mukherjee, ASP, North 24-Parganas, adding the forest officials had been informed about the recovery.