Forty tortoises were rescued by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) from a local train today. One person has been arrested for smuggling the tortoises.

According to RPF officials, Sailen Haldar (40) had boarded the Bongaon-Ranaghat local train from Bongaon station at 5 am today. He was inside the vendor coach and was carrying two gunnybags. At Gopalnagar (which comes just before the Ranaghat station), RPF officials got suspicious of Haldar. They checked his gunnybags and found the tortoises.

“We saw the bags moving which raised our suspicion. The tortoises were small and initially when we asked the man to show us what was inside the bag he said he was carrying chickens. The man claims he is not part of the kingpin gang,” said an RPF official.

The tortoises and Haldar have been handed over to the state forest department, who has booked the accused under Wildlife Protection Act. Forest officials claimed that initial interrogation revealed that Haldar was a daily supplier of tortoise to the markets of Barasat, Ranaghat, Machida and Beliaghata. The consignment seized was worth about Rs 15,000.