A rare turtle species was rescued from a businessman’s house after it showed up at his doorstep following heavy rainfall in central India’s Madhya Pradesh.

The turtle was rescued on July 15 in Betul, after the vendor’s children spotted the turtle a few days ago amid sporadic monsoon showers in the Civil Lines area.

According to Brij Kapoor, the merchant, the turtle is an auspicious sign of wealth and luck in the house and decided to keep it as a pet.

He tended to the turtle, and regularly fed him before deciding its appropriate place was not inside a house, but out in the wild, when he contacted the Forest Department.

Visuals show the turtle being rescued from the house laid out in a shallow utensil filled with water.

According to reports, the species is a black sided turtle, an extremely rare species.

Experts believe that the speciality of this turtle is that it eats grass.

At the same time, it stays low in the water and walks more on land.

It has four nails on its feet. This tortoise with 16 claws is considered lucky.

Also, there is a provision of penalty and punishment for illegally raising wild animals including turtles.

Forest guard Chandra Shekhar Singh stated that the turtle would be released safely in the wild soon.