21 turtles rescued, shop owner fined

Twenty-one turtles were recovered from a fish shop in Patuakhali's Kalapara upazila town Wednesday night.

A mobile court fined shop owner Manik Fakir Tk 4,000 after the rescue of the turtles from Kalapara fish market around 8:00pm, said Monirul Islam, Kalapara upazila range officer of the forest department.

The owner was released on bond that he would not be engaged in the sale of turtles in the future, he said.

Locals said a team from an animal welfare organisation "Animal Lovers of Patuakhali" rescued the turtles from the shop.

"After we informed the forest department and the upazila administration, they took the action," said Baijid, a member of Animal Lovers.

Later, the turtles were released in the pond of Kalapara UNO office premises.