Protected sea shells seized from fancy store

CHENNAI: Forest officials arrested two persons for reportedly stocking sea shells, protected under Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, in a fancy store inside an amusement park on East Coast Road on Sunday.Acting on a tip off, the officials held  Sheik Mohideen (37) of Lloyds Road, Triplicane, and Abdul Wahab (41) of Bismillah Nagar, Vettuvankeni, for keeping three different types of Spider Conch shells - Lambis Scorpius, Lambis Truncata and Lambis Chiragra. “All the three are protected under Schedule IV of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and are banned from sale. We have seized totally four shells only that we found in the shop but we are inquiring further. The sale of such shells is an offence and can lead to an imprisonment up to three years or fine up to `25,000,” said Davidraj, forest range officer.Officials said that the arrested men informed them that the shells were supplied to them from Rameswaram. Once they are brought out of the sea, they are lifeless, hence the officials have decided to destroy them, officials added. “Fishes in the sea live around such shells surrounded with algae. There are totally 24 types of shells protected under the Act,” the range officer added.Shops BurgledBurglars broke into a series of shops at a residential-cum-commerical complex and decamped with ` 25,000 at Esplanade.The complex on Chembudas Street has residents living on the ground floor and hardware shops on the first floor. The burglars broke into the shops and decamped with a total of `25,000 from them. The Esplanade police have registered a case and are investigating the serial robbery.Man Found Hanging Inside TrainAn unidentified youth was found hanging inside a railway coach at the Central station on Sunday. Sources said Kovai Express, which arrived from Coimbatore on Saturday, was taken to the yard and came to the platform in the morning. As the bathroom in a compartment was found locked and repeated knocks eleicited no response the railway police were summoned. On forcing the door open, they found a youth hanging inside. They did not find any ticket in his pockets, the sources added.