A Mumbai resident rescued a rare and endangered turtle which was being poached from Bandra’s Bandstand. Ashish Pingle, who runs a restaurant in Dadar, was on his regular jogging regime when he saw a group of miscreants trying to poach a big turtle.
” I was on my usual jogging regime on Wednesday when I saw a commotion at the beach. When I went there, I saw a huge turtle trapped in the net while a man was standing on it and trying to take a selfie. I scolded the person and told him what If somebody stands over you in this manner.” Pingle told InUth. Refusing to let the matter be, Pingle followed the group to see what they were up to. “I told them the turtle belongs to the sea and should be released but they would have none of it, they dragged the turtle to a nearby slum but I kept following them,” he said.
Pingle tried calling PETA but could not get through to them. ” I tried at least four to five no.s of PETA but did not get any response,” he said. He then called up the police control room and requested them to send a police personnel immediately.
After a police constable arrived, the two went to the nearby slum to rescue the turtle. “We went inside the slum to trace out the turtle. On seeing the two men who were earlier seen carrying the big turtle away in a netting, we explained to them that it is a crime to take away protected species like turtles. They could face imprisonment for this. Finally they relented,” Pingle said.
As it turned out it was a hawksbill sea turtle which is protected under Schedule I – Part – II of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Pingle cut the nets of the trapped turtle and set it free, allowing it to return to its natural habitat.
