HYDERABAD: Police busted an interstate tortoise smuggling racket in Rachakonda on Tuesday and rescued 286 star tortoises, 160 red-eared slider tortoises, and other materials, all worth Rs 64 lakh.
The police arrested two accused, Siraj Ahmed (39) and Shaik Jani (50), whereas another accused, Vijay Kumar, is currently absconding.
The police said Shaik is a resident of Hyderabad who runs an aquarium business and sells various fish and bird species.
Plan to sell in Hyd
On Tuesday, Malkajgiri Special Operations Team (SOT) sleuths raided his shop and found him illegally selling the tortoises. They rescued five star tortoises from his illegal venture.
Upon further questioning Shaik revealed that Siraj had sold him the tortoises, prompting the police to conduct a raid on Siraj’s aquarium shop at Malakpet. The police found 160 red-eared slider tortoises in his shop and 281-star tortoises in his hidden godown.
Upon investigation, Siraj accepted that he along with Vijay had hatched a plan to smuggle the reptiles from Andhra Pradesh to Hyderabad.