200-year-old giant turtle freed in Meghna River

CHANDPUR, Nov 26 (UNB): Police rescued a giant 71 kg sea turtle, believed to be around 200 years old, and with the assistance of the Forest Department, later released it into the Meghna River on Saturday afternoon.
Officials from the Forest Department said the turtle is approximately 200 years old, a sentiment echoed by the local Tripura community. Turtles can live long. A Galápagos tortoise named Harriet was collected by Charles Darwin in 1835; it died in 2006, having lived for at least 176 years.
It was learned that the big sized sea turtle was caught in the nets of local fishermen in the Haimchar upazila near the riverbanks, two to three days ago.
Josim Uddin, a local businessman, purchased it on Saturday for resale in Baliya Union, at Tk 19,000.
Tribe leader Khokon Tripura stated, "Primarily, we bought it for consumption. We had plans to prepare it for eating, but later, we handed it over to the administration." He added that the elderly people in their community have memories of consuming sea turtles of similar age in the past, though such occurrences are rare nowadays.
Assistant Sub-Inspector Mizanur Rahman of Chandpur Model thana said upon receiving the news of the turtle being caught, Officer-in-Charge Sheikh Mohsin Alom directed him to visit the site. Subsequently, with coordination from the Forest Department, they recovered and brought the turtle to Chandpur, where arrangements were made for its release into the Meghna River.