2,000 tortoises rescued, three arrested

Three persons were today arrested and around 2,000 tortoises were rescued in Howrah district, forest officials said today.

Acting on a tip-off, the Forest department officials alongwith police stopped a truck on the NH 6 near Guladore, Divisional Forest Officer (Howrah) Syed M Hussain and DFO (Kharagpur) Anjan Guha.

The officials found around 2,000 tortoise in the truck which was coming from Andhra Pradesh and arrested three persons, the DFOs said.

The rescued tortoises were sent to animal rescue centre while the three persons who were transporting the tortoise were arrested by police, they said.