Two separate cases have been filed over allegations that more than a hundred baya weaver chicks were killed when a palm tree was cut down in the East Guatan area of Jhalakathi Sadar upazila.

Jhalakathi Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate Ashrafur Rahman confirmed this on Sunday (29 June) afternoon. 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 (27 June) afternoon.

Deputy Commissioner Ashrafur Rahman said one case has been filed at Jhalakathi Sadar police station over the felling, naming three people as accused: Mobarak Ali, Mizanur Rahman and Faruk Hossain. Another case has been filed at the divisional forest officer's office under the wildlife conservation law.

Moniruzzaman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Sadar police station, said the accused have been absconding since the cases were filed and efforts are under way to arrest them.

Local people said the palm tree, on land owned by Mobarek Ali Fakir, had long been known as a safe home for baya weavers. It held countless baya weaver nests, eggs and chicks. A man named Mizanur Rahman bought the tree. Cutting it down destroyed more than a hundred chicks and eggs.

Local resident Jahid Hossain said angrily: "The 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.