GAYAJI, March 31 -- Acting under Operation Wildlife Law Enforcement Action Plan (WILEP), the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP), during a joint raid, recovered 28 live turtles from a general coach of the Dehradun-Howrah Express at Gaya railway station on Monday, officials said. The team, led by sub-inspector Mukesh Kumar, noticed movement in two unattended jute sacks in coach number ER-247139 of the train, which had halted at platform number 2. Upon inspection, they recovered 28 live turtles from the sacks. A case was registered under the Wildlife Protection Act, and the animals were handed over to forest officials, said RPF Gaya station house officer inspector Banarasi Yadav. Earlier, on March 21, officials had recovered 88 live turtles, each weighing between 25 kg and 30 kg, from the Farakka Express at Patna Junction railway station. Five smugglers were arrested in connection with the incident. During interrogation, the accused revealed that turtle meat is believed by some to have aphrodisiac properties and is also used in certain tantric rituals. There is reportedly high demand for Ganga river turtles in hotels across Kolkata. Investigations suggest the involvement of an organised smuggling network. Turtles are procured from Uttar Pradesh and transported by train to Kolkata, from where they are further trafficked to Bangladesh and Myanmar. Railway Superintendent of Police (SP) Patna, Anant Kumar Rai, said that the RPF has launched Operation WILEP to curb the illegal smuggling of wildlife, animal parts, and forest products through India's extensive railway network. He added that the operation has been successful, with several smugglers arrested and numerous wild animals, including turtles, rescued in recent months....