The Forest Department has rescued 12 langurs that had been caught in the hills of Maheshkhali, Cox's Bazar, for trafficking.

Forest staff recovered the animals from an abandoned house in the Bariarchhari area of Shaplapur union in the upazila on the afternoon of Thursday, 7 November.

No one was detained. The langurs were released the same evening at Jam Bagan in the Dineshpur forest of Maheshkhali.

According to the Forest Department's Maheshkhali range, word came that 12 endangered langurs were being held in cages in an abandoned house deep in the hills in Bariarchhari, Shaplapur. A Forest Department team led by Shaplapur beat officer Nure Alam of the Maheshkhali range then carried out a raid and rescued 12 langurs, including five young. None of the traffickers was caught. Forest bandits had caught the langurs in the hills and wanted to smuggle them out.

Maheshkhali range officer Mohammad Enamul Haque said the animals were mukhpora langurs (hanuman), and they were released in the evening at Jam Bagan in the Dineshpur forest.

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