A palm civet (gandhagokul) that came from the forest into a village in Rajnagar upazila of Moulvibazar has been beaten to death. Locals said the animal wandered into the village while sick, and residents cornered it and beat it to death.

The civet was killed on Thursday morning (23 February) beside the house of Roman Mia in Deflura village of Tengra union in the upazila, and then buried.

Eyewitnesses said there are two tea gardens in Tengra union. When the sick animal came into the village from one of them in search of food, frightened residents beat it to death.

Rajnagar environmental activist Murad Ahmed told Jago News that the villagers killed the civet out of ignorance. "This animal is beneficial to the environment and should not have been killed," he said. "The Forest Department should run an awareness campaign on this."

Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, divisional forest officer of the Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division in Moulvibazar, said: "I am not aware of it. We will find out and take action."

Binoy Bhushan Roy, officer-in-charge (OC) of Rajnagar police station, said: "I am not aware of it. I will look into it."

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