The Bhitarkanika forest personnel on Saturday arrested two turtle smugglers and seized five Indian soft shell turtles, including three dead, from their possession, said Rajnagar Forest Ranger Binod Kumar Acharya.
According to official sources, acting on a tip off from a reliable source that some poachers had allegedly been selling turtles after catching them from the water body of Madanpur Cut, a team of Forest personnel conducted a raid and nabbed the smugglers. They were identified as Basudev Mallick and Golakha Mallick of Khananta village under Pattamundai block.
The duo was arrested under Section 9 and 44 of Wildlife Protection Act and produced before a local court where they were remanded into jail custody after their bail pleas were rejected. The live turtles were released into a water body, while the dead ones were buried. The weight of the seized turtles varied between 500 gm and 1 kg.