KOLKATA: The West Bengal CID today seized 2,499 turtles from Dhulagarh area and detained four persons in this connection, a senior official said.
Acting to a tip-off, CID sleuths along with officials of the Wild Life Crime Control Bureau and the state forest department, intercepted a truck and seized 92 boxes containing the turtles, including 700 dead Indian soft shell turtles, he said.
The turtles have been sent to the Turtle Rehabilitation Centre in Salt Lake.
The death of the turtles was caused mainly because of "improper" and "unhealthy" manner of transportation, he said.
"This is most probably the highest recovery of turtles in West Bengal and second highest in the country as reported by Wildlife Crime Control Bureau," the CID officer said, adding, the market value of the turtles could be worth around Rs 20,00,000.