Nabarangpur: Forest officials rescued 119 turtles and arrested a person for allegedly smuggling those in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district on Monday.
As per reports, the Forest staff were carrying out routine patrolling at Umerkote in the district on the day when they intercepted a person going on a motorcycle near Nuaguda Chhak.
On checking his a container carried by the man, identified as Rajesh Das, the Forest officials found 119 live turtles and seized those.
During questioning, Rajesh admitted that he was trafficking the turtles from Kalahandi district to Raighar in Nabarangpur, said Anup Singh Pujari, Umerkote Forest Range Officer.
After checking the health condition of the turtles, those would be released in a natural habitation, he added.
