Bhubaneswar: Chitrakonda Forest officials busted a major tortoise smuggling racket, seizing 1 tonne of tortoises on the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border, on Monday. Two persons have been arrested for smuggling turtles.
According to sources, the accused were smuggling turtles from Narasinghapatna in Andhra Pradesh to Kalimela MV79 in Malkangiri. Acting on a tip-off, Forest Department officials led by Chitrakonda Ranger Banamali Nayak formed a team.
The team intercepted the pick-up van bearing an Andhra Pradesh number AP39 NS1566 near Rajulkonda on the Odisha- Andhra Pradesh border. During checking, police were taken back to find turtles were being transported in 35 gunny bags.
The Forest department seized the turtles and launched an investigation to extract more information from the accused.
