Twelve turtles were seized from two youths here on Sunday after an animal protection activist found flies buzzing around a bag that the duo were carrying.

The seized Indian flapshell turtle is a vulnerable species, said sources.

“Two youths were standing at Siliguri More (a prominent crossing) of the town with a bag. I saw that flies were flying around the bags and suspected that there might be something unusual in the bag. I approached the on-duty traffic policemen who intercepted the duo and opened the bag. We found turtles inside,” said Gautam Tantia, the Raiganjbranch secretary of Peoples for Animals.

The turtles and the arrested duo were handed over to the officers of the Kulik wildlife range.

The two are Anil Kumar Sahani and Amit Kumar from Bihar.

During preliminary investigation, the foresters have learnt that the turtles were brought from Purnia in Bihar.

“They had a plan to sell the turtles at a weekly village market at Shibbari in Gangarampur,” said Dawa Sherpa, the divisional forest officer of Raiganj.