Ludhiana, April 11 -- Less than three weeks after an illegal parrot trade was busted, another case of wildlife captivity has surfaced in Ludhiana, with protected turtle species recovered from an eatery in Mundian Kalan. The eatery owner has been booked and arrested, forest officials said.

Acting on a tip-off, teams from the police and forest department, along with an NGO, recovered two Indian roofed turtles and one Indian tent turtle from an aquarium at the premises. The species are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, making their possession illegal.

Rajpura-based environmentalist Sahil Sharma, who alerted authorities, said the turtles were being kept as pets and are now in the custody of the forest department.

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