Aquarium owners arrested for trafficking Star & Red-Eared Tortoises in Hyderabad
Hyderabad: The Special Operations Team (SOT) of Malkajgiri Zone, along with the Forest Range Office (FRO) of Uppal, has arrested two individuals involved in the illegal smuggling and sale of tortoises. The police seized 281 Star Tortoises, 160 Red-Eared Slider Tortoises, and four mobile phones, worth approximately โน64 lakh.
The arrested individuals are MD. Siraj Ahmed, 39, who operates the New Shine Aquarium in Malakpet, and Shaik Jani, 50, who runs the Famous Aquarium in Peerzadiguda, Medipally. Another suspect, Vijay Kumar, is reportedly absconding.
The operation began on December 24 when officers from the SOT raided Famous Aquarium based on a tip-off. During the raid, they discovered five Star Tortoises being sold illegally. To confirm the legality of the sale, officials from the FRO were called to the scene. They confirmed that selling Star Tortoises is prohibited under sections 9, 39, 49, 50, 51, and 55 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
During questioning, Shaik Jani admitted to purchasing the tortoises from MD. Siraj Ahmed. This led the SOT team to raid New Shine Aquarium in Malakpet, where they discovered 160 Red-Eared Slider Tortoises and 281 Star Tortoises in a hidden storage area.
In further questioning, Siraj Ahmed revealed that he and Vijay Kumar were smuggling tortoises from Andhra Pradesh to Hyderabad for sale. According to Ahmed, Vijay Kumar would bring the tortoises to him, and he would then sell them at his aquarium.
The above arrests were made under the direct supervision of G. Sudheer Babu, Commissioner of Police, Rachakonda, and under the guidance of A. Ramana Reddy., DCP, SOT-I, Dr. N. Narsimha Reddy, Addl DCP, SOT-I, V. Srikanth Goud, ACP, SOT-I, by P. Chandra Sekhar Reddy, Inspector of Police, SOT, Malkajgiri Zone, and P. Vasudev, Sub-Inspector of Police SOT Malkajgiri and Malkajgiri Zone Staff and handed over accused persons along with property to FRO Uppal for necessary action.
๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฐ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐-๐๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐จ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐ฌ
The Special Operation Team of the Malkajgiri zone, in collaboration with the Forest Range Office of Uppal, arrested two individuals involvedโฆ pic.twitter.com/3ONi0kxyra
โ Hyderabad Mail (@Hyderabad_Mail) December 25, 2024
