Hyderabad: Special Operation Team (SOT) of Malkajgiri Zone and Forest Range Officer (FRO) of Uppal busted an inter-state turtle smuggling racket here on Tuesday. They raided two places and arrested two persons and seized 281 star tortoises, 160 red-eared slider tortoises and four mobile phones worth Rs 6.4 lakh.
Shaik Jani of Peerjadiguda runs a famous aquarium in Malkajgiri, where he sells various species, including fish and birds. The SOT team got a tip-off about his illegal turtle sale racket. During the raid, five star tortoises were found in his shop. Selling turtles is a violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
When asked, 50-year-old Jani revealed that he bought the tortoise from MD. Siraj Ahmed, 39, who runs New Shine Aquarium in Malakpet. It raided Ahmed’s shop, where they found 160 red-eared slider turtles and 281 star turtles hidden in a secret storage area on the third floor of his shop. Ahmed admitted that he and his business partner Vijay Kumar (who is absconding) used to smuggle turtles from Andhra Pradesh to Hyderabad.
“Turtles are sold for 15,000 to 20,000 rupees depending on their size. The illegal trade has not only involved Hyderabad but also other areas including Kerala, Odisha and Tamil Nadu,” said an SOT official.
Meanwhile, the rescued turtles have been moved to a zoo.
According to the official, further investigation is underway to expose the entire network of smuggling.
The accused and recovered property have been handed over to FRO Uppal. Both the accused will be jailed for up to seven years.