United News of Bangladesh

Members of the Coast Guard have arrested six people, including two women, with 11 kilograms of venison near Mongla Ferry Ghat in Bagerhat. The arrestees were identified as Md Sohel Rana, 39, Md Saidul Islam, 47, Md Taijul Islam, 38, Md Rabin, 40, Mukta Begum, 30, and Kolpana Nazu, 30. Among them, the male arrestees are residents of Dhaka’s Keraniganj, while the women hail from Kaliganj upazila of Jhenaidah, said a Coast Guard media release. Acting on a tip-off, a Coast Guard team conducted a special drive in the area on Tuesday noon. During the operation, the Coast Guard members stopped a microbus carrying the six suspects and recovered the venison. A preliminary interrogation revealed that the group intended to transport the venison to Dhaka for sale. Read: Suspected poacher arrested with 15 kg venison in Bhola The seized venison and the detainees were handed over to the Dangmari Forest Office in the Sundarbans. Surjit Chowdhury, an official at the forest office, said that he had filed a case against the arrestees under the Forest and Wildlife Conservation Act. The suspects were later presented before a Bagerhat court for further legal proceedings, Surjit added.

The forest department officials on Thursday evening detained a man with 20kg venison from the Nilkamal area of the Sundarbans in Khulna. The detainee was identified as Hiru Akon of Barguna. Read more: Two sent to jail for possessing deer meat in Bhola Zahirul Islam, in-charge of Nilkamal Wildlife Sanctuary in the Sundarbans, said a patrol team of the forest department detained Akon, "a member of a deer poaching gang," while he along with others was trying to flee the scene after sensing the forest officers' presence. The team also seized a fishing boat, a gun, 19 rounds of bullets, equipment used to trap deer, and sharp weapons. Read more: Venison, deer skin seized in Bagerhat "Akon was sent behind bars Thursday. And legal action will be taken against others," Zahirul said.

Forest officials in a drive detained 10 poachers along with 160 kg of venison from the west bank of Pashur river in the Sundarbans Sunday afternoon. They also seized 200 meters of deer hunting trap, 4 deer horns, 1 woodpecker and 4 boats from their possession, said a press release of Sundarbans West Forest Department. Read: 2 poachers held with venison, legs in Bagerhat The detainees are Sheikh Didar, Sheikh Nizam, Rasel Fakir, Abdus Sobhan Sheikh, Mohammad Afridi, Sheikh Golam Moula, Ziar Sheikh, Shamim Khan, Raj and Abdul Naeem Sheikh. They recovered 4 expired passes of fish and crabs catching from them, the release added. Later, they were handed over to Khulna Senior Judicial Magistrate Court-01.

Forest officials in a drive arrested two poachers along with 12 kg venison, four deer legs, a trap and a trawler from Dumuria canal in Sharankhola upazila of Sundarbans east zone on Thursday. The arrestees are Hanif Mistri, 48, son of Wahab Mistri and Masum Mistri, 28, son of Hamid Mistri of Mathbaria upazila in Pirojpur district. Read:Poacher 'Tiger Habib' held after 20 yrs on the run Mohammad Belayet Hossain, officer-in-charge of Sundarbans East Zone, said a patrol team of forest officials signaled a boat and a trawler to stop in the canal early in the morning. Sensing danger, the criminals tried to flee the scene leaving behind the boat and the trawler. Read:Two ‘poachers’ killed in tiger attack in Sundarbans Later, the forest officials arrested two poachers while three others managed to flee the scene. They also recovered 12 kgs of venison, four deer legs, a trap of 30 feet, the trawler and the boat from the spot. Read:Sundarbans poacher held with tiger’s hide in Bagerhat The five poachers were involved in poaching deer from Sundarbans. A case was filed in this connection.  

Poaching of the famed spotted deer has by now become a fixture violating the Sundarbans ecosystem, beyond the reach of state-led, often multilateral initiatives to clamp down on this transnational criminal enterprise.