Kendrapara: Forest personnel Thursday seized around two quintals of live mud crabs, a protected species, from a Kolkatabound bus at Silipur traffic junction on National Highway 53 in Kendrapara, police said. Three persons were arrested and charged under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and were later remanded to judicial custody for 14 days, police said.
The crabs were subsequently released into Krushnapriyapur creek, according to Nalinikanta Behera, Forest Range Officer of Mahakalapada. Forest dwellers are permitted to catch crabs for personal consumption but are prohibited from selling or transporting them, he added. Crabs and fish are key food sources for the more than 1,800 saltwater crocodiles in the national park, and it is illegal for locals to catch crabs in park and sanctuary areas, the forest officer added.
