<i>374 rare turtles seized from Khulna shops</i>
The forest department rescues 374 such turtles from their illegal keepers at Jilerdanga and Koiya bazaars in Dumuria upaila of Khulna district on Saturday. The aquatic creatures belonging to three rare species were later released in Sholmari River in the upazila. PHOTO: STAR
A team of The Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation department seized 374 turtles of three rare species from two shops at Jilerdanga and Koiya bazars under Dumuria upazila in Khulna district on Saturday afternoon. The 374 turtles belong to Indian flapshell, narrow headed softshell and Indian tent species, locally known as hashe, chaten and karhikata, were found hidden in water containers in the two shops, said Abu Nasser Muhammod Yasin Newaz, divisional forest officer (DFO) of The Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Department under the Ministry of Forest and Environment. Catching of these rare species of turtles is banned and a punishable offence under sections 5 (1) and 15 (1) of The Bangladesh Wildlife Preservation Act, 1974, he said. Tipped off, a ten-member team headed by DFO Yasin Newaz raided the shops of Prashanto Bairagi of Jilerdanga Bazar and Jagadish Muhari of Koiya Bazar under Dumuria upazila. These turtles worth over Tk 1 lakh at local market price were being secretly preserved for smuggling at any available opportunity, the DFO said. Both Prashanto Bairagi and Jagadish Muhori told DFO Yasin Newaz that they had managed trade license from the local UP chairman to deal in turtles. They said they were not aware of the fact that catching and sale of sea turtles is banned. Expressing surprise about the authority of a UP chairman to give license to anyone for dealing in sea-turtles in violation of the Wildlife Preservation Act, the DFO said he could not detain the two alleged persons for the illegal dealing as they produced trade licenses. The seized turtles were released in the Sholmari River in Dumuria upazila the same day.
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