The defence ministry violated its own commitment to the Orissa High Court when it test-fired Agni-II intermediate range ballistic missile from the Wheeler Islands. Only two days before the tests, officials at the interim test range at Chandipur in Orissa had filed an affidavit in the court on behalf of the defence ministry stating that there was no plan to test-fire any missile during the mating and the nesting season of the sea turtles. The affidavit was in response to a public interest petition filed by the Wildlife Society of Orissa, which had sought the court's intervention for a halt to all activities, particularly the missile testing, to avoid disturbing the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles.
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