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The Pune division of the state Forest department has arrested two persons over the alleged possession and attempt to sell turtles, which are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act.
Forest department officials have identified the accused as Atharva Deshmukh and Shrikant Vanjari. Acting on a tip-off, a team of the Forest department had laid a trap near Mankar Chowk in Wakad on June 29. The team then nabbed Deshmukh and Wanjari while they were allegedly involved in the illegal sale of turtles.
Officials conducted searches at the residence of the two accused and found two dead and one live turtle inside a bag at Deshmukh’s house.
According to the Forest department, the three turtles included two ‘Indian Roofed Turtles’ and one ‘Indian Tent Turtle’, which are protected as per Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act.
The accused were later produced before a court and their custody was granted to the Forest department till July 3 for further investigation.
A probe is on to find out from where they managed to procure the turtles.
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