Olive Ridley turtles recovered

THOOTHUKUDI

The forest personnel have picked up the driver of a cargo autorickshaw even as he was allegedly transporting four live sea turtles to be slaughtered for meat.

Sources in the forest department said the patrol team, led by Gulf of Mannar Biospehere Reserve Trust Range Officer Raghuvaran, spotted the turtles being loaded into a cargo auto after bringing the turtles in a country boat close to a causeway on a wild stream estuary close to Tharuvaikulam on Sunday night. While auto driver S. Kumar, 45, of Indra Nagar in Thoothukudi was nabbed, others escaped.

Efforts are on to nab Jegadish Kumar and Wellington of Fatima Nagar in Thoothukudi.