The election department officials and police at Kalapet check post seized nearly 659 seahorses worth lakhs of rupees on Saturday evening.
Naukat Ali, a junior engineer at Oulgaret Municipality, who was on election duty along with the station officer Ilavarasan on Saturday evening stopped a mini van belonging to a private parcel service during a routine check. They found five cardboard boxes in the van and asked for the official papers.
As per the documents, those boxes contained electronic materials. However, when the boxes were opened, the officials found onions instead of electronic materials. Suspecting foul play, they checked the boxes carefully and found more than 500 seahorses being transported. The private van was heading from Puducherry towards Chennai.
A Forest Department official said that 659 seahorses were being transported, out of which, 350 were big mature seahorses. They are protected species under the Schedule I, Part II of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Kalapet Sub-Inspector of Police said that three persons, including the driver and two office staff, were detained in this connection.
