Three persons, including a couple from Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, were arrested with 10kg of tortoise fat by police at Kaliachak in Malda on Friday.

The fat that is in dried form was about to be smuggled into Bangladesh through Mahadipur border of the district, said police sources.

On Friday morning, Babua Kumar and his spouse Kiran reached Malda from Sultanpur. Officials of Kaliachak police station, who had prior information, had formed a special team to nab them.

The duo headed for a locality near the India-Bangladesh border and handed the tortoise fat that was in two bags to Mohammed Motiur Rahaman, a Kaliachak resident.

The police team conducted a raid at the spot, and could arrest all three of them. The bags were also seized.

“They had a plan to take the consignment to Mahadipur and smuggle it to Bangladesh. But we could arrest them midway,” said Ashish Das, inspector-in-charge, Kaliachak police station.

During the primary interrogation, the trio admitted that several tortoises were killed to accumulate the fat. It was then processed and then brought to Malda.

“We suspect all three of them are members of a racket that is engaged in smuggling of animal parts to Bangladesh,” a police officer said.

Sources said the seized consignment costs around Rs 10 lakh in clandestine market.

“In Bangladesh also, tortoises are killed to get the fat. The item has a demand in China and North and South Korea where it is used to make different traditional medicines,” the source added.