MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court granted bail to a man who was arrested by the customs air intelligence unit (AIU) for smuggling 6,850 live red-eared slider turtles worth around `27.4 lakh at Tiruchy airport in June this year.
According to the prosecution, on June 23, 2023, when the Tiruchy DRI officials and the officials of Tiruchy AIU were keeping surveillance over the passengers who arrived from Kuala Lumpur at Tiruchy airport, two persons, including the petitioner Mohamed Hasan behaved in a suspicious manner. When a search was carried out, it was found that they were in possession of the above species of turtles and foreign currency from various countries (worth `57,441 at the Indian currency rate).
The duo was arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Though Hasan approached the high court earlier seeking bail, his application was dismissed, following which he approached the court once again.
During the hearing, it was informed that the co-accused Habeeb Nashtar is a habitual offender and Hasan was used by him to transport the turtles and the currency to India. Taking into consideration that Hasan is a first-time offender and also his period of incarceration, Justice G Ilangovan granted bail to him.