Youth held with turtles worth Rs 15,000

The crime branch of Pune police have nabbed one Ali Asghar Sanago (23),a resident of Vaiduwadi in Hadapsar,with a bag carrying three turtles including one star-back turtle at the old Katraj bus stop on Thursday.

The crime branch team nabbed Ali,who is into dog-breeding business,following a tip-off. Inspector Ram Pathare of crime branch said,”He had confessed of getting the star-back turtle from Mumbai. Primary investigations have revealed that he was planning to sell the three turtles to some customer. The estimated cost of the turtles is Rs 15,000,” Pathare said. Police said Ali will be booked under Wild Life Protection Act. The turtles were sent to the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park at Katraj.