BHOPAL: The luxurious AC First-Class coaches of long-distance trains, considered top-tier travel options, have been exploited by an inter-state wildlife crime racket to smuggle endangered turtles from Uttar Pradesh to Madhya Pradesh.
The Madhya Pradesh State Tiger Strike Force (STSF) recently busted the racket, which sourced rare and endangered turtles from rivers in Uttar Pradesh, concealed them on board AC First-Class coaches of long-distance trains to Madhya Pradesh, and then distributed them to customers in MP, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and other states.
The racket employed AC First-Class coach attendants to transport and stash the turtles. Acting on specific intelligence, the STSF, in a joint operation with the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Bhopal Forest Division, seized 311 rare and endangered turtles from coach attendant Ajay Singh Rajput on the 19322 Patna-Indore Express at Sant Hirdaram Railway Station, Bhopal. The haul included endangered Crowned River Turtles, Indian Tent Turtles, and Indian Roofed Turtles.
Further investigation led to the capture of a 17-and-a-half-year-old teenager in Lucknow, the primary supplier of the turtles from rivers in central Uttar Pradesh. The teenager, now in custody at a detention home in Bhopal, was part of a larger network operating in districts including Lucknow, Kanpur, Unnao, Sultanpur, and Amethi, sourcing turtles from the Ganga, Gomti, and their tributaries.
The STSF then focused on the racket’s kingpin, Asif Khan, who had been operating from Dewas district in western Madhya Pradesh. After evading arrest for several days, Khan was apprehended on 10 February and produced before the competent court. He is currently being questioned by STSF officers.
Investigators are confident that further arrests will follow as the inquiry continues, particularly targeting other members forwarding smuggled turtles to clients across MP, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.