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District Detective Branch (DB) police have rescued 103 wild parakeets packed into 10 plastic cages during a search of a passenger bus in Bogura.
The birds were later released into the open air on Thursday (September 10) in front of the Bogura Police Superintendent’s office in the presence of Forest Department officials.
According to police and forest officials, a DB team conducted a raid in the Thanthania area of the city around 11:00pm on Wednesday following a tip-off that a large number of wild parakeets were being transported for illegal trafficking.
Led by Senior Assistant Superintendent of Police Robiul Islam of Shibganj Circle, the team searched the Al Baraka Travels bus travelling from Naogaon to Dhaka.
During the search, police found 103 parakeets crammed inside 10 plastic cages kept in the bus’s side box. However, the person allegedly carrying the birds fled before police could apprehend him.
Dulal Kumar Saha, ranger officer of the Bogura Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Department, said the rescued birds included male and female Metha Parakeets and Red-headed Parakeets.
The birds are wild species found mainly in the hilly areas of Bangladesh and India and often come to cultivated fields, particularly corn and chilli fields, in search of food.
He said an organised group of wildlife traffickers catches the birds and attempts to sell and transport them illegally.
Bogura Police Superintendent Mirza Sayem Mahmud said catching or trading wild parakeets is strictly prohibited under the country’s wildlife conservation law.
“The bus driver and supervisor have been questioned, and a phone number allegedly used by the trafficker has been recovered,” he said.
The police superintendent added that a regular case would be filed against members of the trafficking syndicate if the Forest Department submits a written complaint.