Malkangiri: In a major crackdown on illegal wildlife trafficking, forest officials in Malkangiri district seized 311 tortoises from an SUV and arrested three persons during a special operation at Padmagiri Chowk on Thursday morning.
Acting on specific intelligence inputs, officials of the Forest Department intercepted a SUV that was allegedly transporting tortoises from Andhra Pradesh towards Malkangiri. Forest personnel had laid a watch near Padmagiri Chowk and stopped the vehicle for inspection.
During the search, officials discovered a large number of tortoises concealed inside the vehicle. The vehicle was immediately seized and taken to the Malkangiri Forest Range Office along with the recovered animals.
Subsequent counting revealed that 303 tortoises were alive, while eight were found dead, taking the total seizure to 311 tortoises.
Three persons were arrested in connection with the case. They were identified as Sidla Raja Reddy and N. Amar Nath, both residents of Devarapalli village in Andhra Pradesh’s Polavaram area, and Rabin Mirdha of MPV-65 village in Malkangiri district.
Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Padman Nayak said the accused would be interrogated further to ascertain the source and destination of the consignment as well as possible links to a wider wildlife trafficking network. He added that the accused would be produced before a court following completion of the preliminary investigation.
Forest officials have initiated further legal proceedings under the relevant provisions of wildlife protection laws.
