Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A forest department team rescued turtles from a tantrik’s house at Akhand Nagar on Monday. Following information received from sources, the team raided the house of the tantric, Baba Ajay Mishra.
The tantrik lives on No. 4 Street of Akhand Nagar and the area is under the jurisdiction of the Aerodrome police station.
“Tantrik Mishra used to make people worship turtles to bring ‘Lakshmi’, a symbol of luxury and wealth, to the house,” said AK Shrivastava, sub-divisional officer.
The team found two turtles in the tantrik’s house. “The turtles are 8 inches in length, so they’re fairly surviving,” Shrivastava said. He added that, right now, the turtles have been confiscated on suspicion.
“Only indigenous species of turtles and tortoises are protected under the Wildlife Act, so, in case of exotic animals, we can’t register a case,” Shrivastava said.
‘Turtles were brought from outside India’
‘In India, according to the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, exotic birds that aren’t native to India can be kept as pets, while local birds categorised as wild can’t legally be kept as pets. According to identification, the turtles are exotic, brought from a country other than India. However, it’s necessary for people to register even their exotic animals on the official portal’ — Narendra Pandwa, divisional forest officer
Register exotic pets on Parivesh portal
People who own exotic birds or animals are advised to register them on the following website: www.parivesh.nic.in. The chief wildlife warden of states will issue the ownership certificate
STEP 1: A home page of PARIVESH portal will appear
STEP 2: Click on ‘New Registration (Registration/ Login)’ tab
STEP 3: Carefully fill in the form and upload the necessary documents proving ownership of the exotic animal
