Police on Saturday busted an interstate pet trade by arresting a 26-year-old person for illegally selling parakeet hatchlings on Belagere Road near Varthur.
The accused Bharath had sourced a total of 26 birds from the forest areas of Tamil Nadu for trading in Bengaluru. Police arrested Bharath and seized 26 ‘Alexandrine’ parakeets after an officer was tipped off by a source.
As they are listed in Schedule IV and protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, these birds should not be trapped, kept in captivity, or traded as pets.
“We received information that the birds were brought from Tamil Nadu to Bengaluru, and he was trying to sell them off. He had established contacts with someone in the other state through a trail of friends. We are investigating to gather more details,” a police officer from the Varthur station told DH.
Police also found out that the 26 hatchlings were brought to the city on a private bus. “Since the hatchlings are very small, they were easily transported in a bus in a small basket”, the officer added.
They have handed the hatchlings to the Bannerghatta rescue centre.
When the accused was produced before the magistrate, the court reportedly asked the police to hand over the case to the forest department as they did not have jurisdiction in the matter. Following the direction, Bharath was released on station bail.
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