Smuggler awarded 3 years jail term for ‘Hill Myna’ trafficking

Alipurduar: The third court of Alipurduar Judicial Magistrate sentenced Hasim Mia to three years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 for smuggling Hill Myna birds.

The court delivered the verdict within nine months of the initiation of the case.

Hasim Mia was apprehended at the Kartika Tea Garden in Alipurduar with seven Hill Myna chicks during a Forest department tip-off operation on February 4. However, when the forest workers arrived, one of the individuals accompanying Hasim Mia escaped. The Forest department filed a case against Hasim under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Debashish Sharma, Deputy Field Director of the Buxa Tiger Reserve (East), stated: “This is a significant success for us. Hopefully, from now on, public awareness will increase and everyone will be careful before any kind of illegal wildlife trade.”

The common Hill Myna (Gracula religiosa) is a popular talking bird. They can learn to reproduce many everyday sounds, particularly the human voice with accuracy making them highly vulnerable to illegal wildlife trade.