More than 50 protected turtles were rescued after a team of forest officials chased a hatchback for more than 10kms and intercepted it near the Doltala crossing in Madhyamgram in North 24-Parganas on Wednesday.
A beat officer was injured after the driver of the car hit him while he was trying to stop it near Champadali More in Barasat.
The driver and an occupant of the Maruti Suzuki Swift were arrested.
Possession and trading of turtles found in India is banned and is punishable under the Indian Wildlife Act 1972.
The Maruti Swifti car was intercepted on the basis of specific information.
According to the official, the team found multiple turtles crammed inside plastic crates.
The rescued turtles include 48 Indian Flap Shelled Turtles, six Gangetic Soft Shelled Turtles and a Peacock Marked Soft Shelled Turtle.
“We are trying to find out if others were associated with the consignment,” an official said.
Indian Flap Shelled Turtle are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act. The other species are also protected.
“Possessing, trading in or killing members of any species under Schedule I of the act is punishable by a jail term varying between three and seven years,” said a senior official of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, an agency under the union ministry of environment and forests that was part of the raid. The turtles were meant to be transported to different markets in the district.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the Indian Flap Shelled Turtle as “vulnerable” on its Red List of threatened species.