Woman arrested with 85 tortoises
By IANSTuesday, February 22, 2011
UNNAO - A woman from Bihar was arrested here Tuesday with 85 tortoises but two of her aides escaped, police said.
Asha Mandal, 42, was nabbed from Mianganj area following a joint operation by police and the Government Railway Police.
The woman was to hand over the tortoises to her clients in West Bengal. She had been involved in illegal trade of tortoises, snakes, hides and wild animals in various states, police inspector L.P. Rai said here.
India has banned the trade of tortoises but the huge premium and lax laws are increasingly luring poachers to the trade.
Tortoises are killed for their meat and also used to prepare some medicines.
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