A Tripura-based animal rights NGO – Pawsome – busted a wildlife smuggling racket in Agartala on Saturday, May 23, and rescued 12 baby parrots and three Indian hill mynahs from a wildlife smuggler.
The smuggler, identified as Ratnadip Das, was allegedly trying to sell the baby parrots for Rs 750 each and Mynah for Rs 1150 each to a pet store. The NGO had been trying to prevent a wildlife smuggling racket for the last few months.
‘There is a racket behind this whole operation. He confessed to us that he collected the birds from a person living in Teliamura of Khowai district and sold them here. His supplier stole freshly hatched birds from forests and supplied them for illegal sale across the state,’ Wrighbed Dutta, the general secretary of the NGO, told The Indian Express.
The NGO handed over the smuggler to the police. Prasenjit Debbarma, a Forest Range Officer under Sadar sub-division, detained the smuggler and handed him over to the local police station.
‘We have detained one Ranadip Das, a resident of Noabari village of Jirania in West Tripura. He was trying to sell at a pet shop in Agartala. Volunteers of an NGO apprehended him and handed him over to us. The detainee was medically tested at a hospital and kept under custody of a local police station,’ the official said.
He added that the forest officials took custody of the birds and would be given to Sepahijala wildlife sanctuary.
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