A Chattogram mobile court jailed and fined a man for destroying 27 weaver bird nests, killing chicks and eggs, highlighting wildlife protection laws and human-wildlife conflict in farming areas.
A mobile court in Chattogram’s Boalkhali upazila has sentenced a man to seven days’ imprisonment without labour and fined him Tk20,000 for destroying 27 nests of Baya Weaver birds and killing dozens of chicks and eggs after blaming the birds for damaging his paddy field.
The verdict was delivered on Wednesday afternoon by Boalkhali Upazila Nirbahi Officer and Executive Magistrate Mehedi Hasan Faruk.
The convict, Bacha Mia, 48, son of Nurul Islam, is a resident of the Popadia area of the upazila.
Confirming the incident, Magistrate Mehedi Hasan Faruk said the drive was carried out following complaints from local environmental and wildlife conservation activists.
“According to villagers, the accused removed 27 nests of weaver birds from a palm tree and killed around 56 chicks, while also destroying many eggs. During our operation, we found around 29 dead chicks along with several broken eggs at the scene,” he said.
He added that the accused confessed to the crime, saying he carried it out because the birds were feeding on paddy in his field.
The court sentenced him under Section 38 of the Wildlife Conservation and Security Act 2012 and sent him to jail after imposing the fine.
Siddiqur Rahman Rabby, president of the Nature Conservation Alliance, who was present during the operation, said the palm tree from which the nests were removed was located far from the accused’s home.
“Locals tried to stop him but he still carried out this brutal act,” he said.
He added that weaver birds are highly beneficial as they help farmers by feeding on insects in paddy fields.
