Since Indian species of turtles and tortoises are illegal to sell, pet shops started selling American Red Slider terrapins which were not covered under the wildlife laws. Manoj found that these reptiles like most other animals are in negative list of imports. He took help of customs officials and raided large suppliers of such reptiles. He rescued 52  reptiles in the raid and this created a precedent for action against sale of exotic animals using the Customs Act