Indore
Crime branch arrested a man with two Australian turtles in the city on Sunday. The man was allegedly trying to sell the turtles for some witchcraft activities. The person from whom he bought the turtles is being searched by the crime branch.
On the instruction from DIG Manish Kapooria, a team of crime branch was keeping an eye on people involved in smuggling in wildlife. ASP (crime) Guru Prasad Parashar instructed the crime branch team to trace the accused.
The team received a tip-off that a person is roaming near the IT Park Square on Khandwa Road and was trying to sell Australian turtles to someone. The crime branch cordoned off the mentioned place and caught one Anil Maratha, a resident of Bengali Square. Two turtles were recovered from him.
During the questioning, the accused allegedly told the police that he had taken the turtles from a person in Bhopal a few days ago. The turtles are worth around Rs 2 lakh in the international market. Earlier also, the accused was arrested for the smuggling of wildlife.
The turtles were handed over to the forest department and the accused is being questioned further.
