Mumbai: Three accused of illegal trading of various types of parrots and Indian Pond Terrapins have been sent to 14-day judicial custody.

The forest department had raided two shops in Crawford and arrested three persons on January 4. Santosh Kank, Range Forest Officer (RFO) said, “We are investigating the case and trying to find if others than these three accused, more people are involved in the illegal trade.” The three accused M Gulab Khan, Fayyaz M Shaikh, owner of the shop and Sandip More were arrested under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 for trading protected wildlife species.

After the raid on January 4, Forest officials have said that they are searching more shops in Crawford market. “To nab illegal traders, we will have to conduct a sting as we did in this case by posing as customers,” said Forest official. After the forest officials had received specific input, the raid was conducted with the help of Plants and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS).

Twelve small parrots, four adult parrots, five Indian parrots out of which one died, six-spotted black Terrapins and nine-star turtles were seized from the three accused. After the raid, these protected species were immediately taken to the Thane Society of Prevention from Cruelty to Animals (TSPCA) for medical tests. While the parrots were shifted to Katraj zoo in Pune, the turtles were sent to the Dahanu rescue centre, which is specially designed to treat turtles.

After the forest officials had received specific input, the raid was conducted with the help of Plants and Animals Welfare Society (PAWS). PAWS’ Mumbai team, which was led by Sunish Subramanian & Nisha Kunju have collected information and evidence on illegal wildlife trade at Crawford Market.

Big Raid

• Twelve small parrots, four adult parrots, five Indian parrots, six-spotted black terrapins and nine-star turtles were seized from the accused.

• PAWS’ Mumbai team have collected information and evidence on illegal wildlife trade at Crawford Market.