Sleuths of Special Task Force (STF) claimed to have arrested a wildlife smuggler in Kanpur and recovered 27 kilograms of turtle soft shell from him on Friday morning.
The arrested person was identified as Saleem Sheikh. He was taken into custody and a case was registered against him. According to IG (STF) Amitabh Yash, a team under ASP Arvind Chaturvedi monitoring the movement of wildlife poachers and smugglers learnt about the presence of a key member of tortoise smuggler in Kanpur. The team rushed to Kanpur and made a breakthrough when it managed to trap the wildlife trafficker, identified as Saleem Sheikh, who hails from Kalia Chak hamlet of Malda town in West Bengal. The trap was laid on Friday morning. On search, the STF team recovered 27 kilograms of turtle soft shell and flap shell, reportedly used for making medicine.
Saleem Sheikh disclosed that he purchased turtles from Auraiya, Etawah, Kanpur and some other places and dispatched them to West Bengal. He claimed that later through Bangladesh or Myanmar, the turtle shells were supplied to China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and other countries.
A case has been registered and the STF sleuths as well as Wildlife department are grilling the accused to extract the names of his aides as well as the syndicate working from Uttar Pradesh to West Bengal and even in Bangladesh.
