Olive Ridley turtles smugglers held

Two persons were arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle Olive Ridley turtles at Rajghat railway station in the district today, a forest department official said.

Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of Railway Protection Force (RPF) and forest officials conducted a raid at the station and seized 91 turtles from the two.

The turtles were being smuggled to West Bengal by the accused when the joint team caught them, Forest Range Officer of Chandipur, Prafulla Kumar Mallick said.

The accused were identified as Rabindra Pradhan of Balasore district and Kartik Patra of Midnapur area in West Bengal, he said.

Investigation is in progress to ascertain details of the smuggling network involving endangered sea turtles which are procured mainly from Odisha coast line.