Bhubaneswar: A special team of the Forest department today apprehended two wild bird traders and seized 82 parrot hatchlings from their possession in Rourkela.
Two others involved in the racket are absconding, forest officials said.
“We were tipped off about the large-scale bird smuggling from Rourkela. We got information from reliable sources that they kept 10 birds that would be transported to Cuttack by bus. We apprehended them and seized the birds from them. After questioning them, we got to know that more birds have been kept for smuggling at one’s house at Nala Road in the city. We raided the place and recovered 72 parrots from the possession of two men,” said Rourkela DFO Jaswant Sethi .
“We have registered a case under section 39 and 49 (A) under the Wildlife Protection Act and arrested them. They will be forwarded to court today,” he added.
One of the smugglers Muna Sahu said it’s their seasonal business.
“Some people from Ranchi came here to get parrots to sell in their bird shops. They have requested me to get some birds during the season. We arranged some of them from the parrot catchers. It is a seasonal business. I have already delivered 10-20 pieces to them”, he added.
The accused used to trap the birds from Saranda forest on Odisha-Jharkhand border. Later, they transport them to other places like Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Raipur.
