Endangered soft-shell turtles seized in Bengal
Kolkata, May 26: West Bengal's CID on Saturday seized a consignment of endangered Indian soft-shell turtles having market value of almost Rs 20 lakh from the state's Howrah district, according to an official statement.
Acting on a tip off that the turtles - smuggled from Bhubaneswar - were being taken to North 24 Parganas district via National Highway 6, the CID organised a raid in communication with WildLife Crime Control Bureau and the state Forest Department.
The joint team raided Birati in North 24 Parganas and the Dhulagarh toll tax area in Hooghly district and apprehended a truck at the latter spot and found the reptiles, the CID release said.
Four persons - two businessmen, the truck driver and a labourer - have been detained and the vehicle seized.
The team has unloaded over 90 boxes of turtles. The counting process was on.
"This is probably the highest recovery of turtles in West Bengal and second biggest in India, as reported by WCCB," said the release.
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WR suspends TTE after he makes passenger write apology letter for asking him to speak in Marathi
Mumbai, Nov 5: The Western Railway has suspended a train ticket examiner (TTE) for allegedly making a passenger write an apology after the latter asked him to speak in Marathi, an official said on Tuesday.
The action came after a photograph of the apology letter surfaced on social media, and passengers staged a protest, he said.
Talking to PTI, Vineet Abhishek, chief public relations officer of Western Railway, said an inquiry is ordered into the incident that took place at Nallasopara station on November 3, and TTE Rakesh Mourya has been suspended.
"All passengers, regardless of their religion, language, or region, are equal to us. Providing excellent service to them is our goal. The matter will be investigated thoroughly, and necessary action will be taken," he said.
Around 70 to 80 passengers staged a protest at Nallasopara station after the purported apology letter surfaced on social media on Monday, officials said.
According to officials, the TTE asked the passenger, Amit Patil, and his wife to furnish their local train tickets. The couple asked him to speak to them in Marathi as they did not understand Hindi, and an argument ensued.
The TTE took the couple to the office of the Railway Protection Force, where Patil claimed that the official had threatened them and made him write an apology, they said.
The Western Railway, in its statement, affirmed its commitment to respecting all languages and passengers.
"Western Railway respects all languages spoken across the country and values the diversity of our passengers, standing firm on unity in diversity," it stated.
