CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, May 26: A royal turtle from Cambodia, which is believed to be a highly endangered species, was rescued from Prem Prakash’s residence on Wednesday night by the Forest Department.
The divisional forest officer at Ranchi Srikant Verma told lagatar24.com that the information about the turtle was given to them by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
“We were informed by the deputy director of ED Shitesh Gupta that there is a turtle at Prem Prakash’s residence which we need to rescue. We soon deployed a team and rescued the endangered animal,” the DFO informed.
He added that the punishment for keeping such endangered species as a pet is seven years of imprisonment as well as a Rs. 5000 fine.
The forest department will today do a proper check-up of the endangered species and will send it to a wildlife rescue centre soon.
The DFO added that many people keep these exotic animals as a prized possession as well as use them as a source of money laundering.
Notably, the Enforcement Directorate on Friday detained Prem Prakash whose residences the agency raided in connection with an ongoing money laundering case against IAS Pooja Singhal.
