The main accused in the case over the killing of more than a hundred baya weaver chicks in Jhalakathi has been arrested. With the help of information technology, Jhalakathi Detective Branch (DB) police arrested Mobarak Ali from the Nesarabad area of Pirojpur district on Sunday (29 June) evening. DB police inspector (OC DB) Md Selim Uddin confirmed the arrest.

He gave the information on the Jhalakathi district police's verified Facebook page. Earlier, Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate Ashrafur Rahman had confirmed that a case had been filed over the killing by felling a palm tree in the East Guatan area of Jhalakathi Sadar upazila.

The palm tree, the only safe refuge for the nests and breeding of more than a hundred baya weavers, was cut down by a group of heartless people on Friday afternoon.

Jhalakathi Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate Ashrafur Rahman said a case has been filed at Jhalakathi Sadar police station under the wildlife conservation law, under section 379, naming Mobarak Ali, Mizanur Rahman and Faruk Hossain as accused.

OC DB Md Selim Uddin said a palm tree was cut down on 27 June in the East Guatan area of Shekherhat union, under Jhalakathi Sadar police station. Many baya weaver nests hung from the leaves at the tips of its fronds, holding more than a hundred chicks and eggs. When some miscreants cut the tree down, the chicks and eggs fell into the water. Some adult birds flew away, but more than a hundred chicks died and the eggs broke.

The tree was the refuge and breeding place of the area's baya weavers, and local people alleged that more than a hundred chicks had been killed by cutting it down. The matter then went viral on social media. After the case was recorded on 29 June, on the instructions of the Barishal range DIG and under the planning of the Jhalakathi superintendent of police, a district DB team arrested the main named accused, Md Mobarek Ali Fakir (65), from the Nesarabad police station area of Pirojpur district within just three hours.

He is the son of the late Moslem Ali Fakir of the Guatan area. The OC DB said the accused is being sent to court and efforts to arrest the other accused are under way.

Local people said the palm tree, on land owned by Mobarek Ali Fakir, had long been known as a safe home for baya weavers, holding countless nests, eggs and chicks. When a man named Mizanur Rahman bought and cut down the tree, more than a hundred chicks and eggs were destroyed. Local people are saddened by the killing of the wildlife.

A local man, Jahid Hossain, said angrily: "This palm tree was not just a tree, it was a centre of biodiversity. Those who did this have committed a crime against nature."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.