The arrested persons and the hill mynah seized from them. Picture by Anirban Choudhury

Alipurduar, Feb. 18: Two members of a racket involved in trapping and smuggling birds were arrested by forest officers yesterday.

A couple of tools used by the gang to trap birds and a hill mynah were seized from them. Another member of the racket managed to give the forest staff the slip. Both the arrested persons were produced in an Alipurduar court today and remanded in custody.

When forest officers reached Compartment 1 under South Rydak Range of Buxa Tiger Reserve (East) Division, three persons, Khuloo Alam, Safikul Islam and Nosen Narjinary were trapping birds. Seeing the guards approaching them, the trio started fleeing. The foresters chased them and caught two persons, though Nosen managed to escape.

While Alam is from Kishangunj in Bihar, Safikul Islam hails from Dhubri district in Assam. Nosen Narjinary belongs to Dhamshibad.

During interrogation, the forest officials found out that the racket was active throughout north Bengal. The gang used to trap birds, particularly hill mynahs and parakeets, in the Dooars and then smuggle them to Bihar and Assam.

Once birds are trapped, the racketeers take them to Siliguri in bags made of cloth. From Siliguri, the birds would be taken to Bihar and from there to other parts of the country, said forest officials. They added that each hill mynah would be sold for Rs 1,000.

Hill mynahs and parakeets found in high altitudes fly down to the plains during winter. During this season, smugglers become active and trap these birds.

In August last year, Mahananda Sanctuary staff had seized 40 birds from a bus and arrested one person. While interrogating him, the forest staff got telephone numbers of many members of the racket, including its kingpin, who later escaped from Siliguri.