270 birds rescued in pre Holi raid

At least 270 birds have been rescued by PTR team a day before Holi at village Kankari under Chainpur police station. Sources said nearly 18 birds so rescued died of suffocation as the baskets in which these birds were seized or rescued proved too small for them to breathe and died of asphyxia said AK Mishra deputy director Core division of PTR.

When put to question that Chainpur is no part of PTR then how come PTR team raided Kankari, which comes under Medininagar forest division ( north) Mishra said, “We had informed he Medininagar forest division and had even asked it to rescue the birds but when their response and action both was found nil we decided to act upon in territory like Kankari which is surely not of PTR but succeeded in laying hands on 280 birds which were put on sale for Holi festival on march 1.”

The bird’s included larks, muniyas, water hens, tailor birds, doves, pepet, moor hens, sun birds etc.

Sources said bird sale gets high in festival times like Holi etc.

Birds are caught in PTR and the bird catchers (read smugglers) use all devices to catch the birds like latex of Banyan & PIpal trees mixed with mustard oil that acts as a powerful gum and if any part of the bird gets touched with this mix the bird is unable to fly and thus caught most easily.

Mishra said the rescued birds had just one wing only. The bird sellers were too cruel to remove their other wing and one wing bird cannot fly reminded this PTR officer.

All the rescued birds are kept in the official residence of mIshra where boiled eggs and paddy are being given to these birds to eat.

Insect eating birds are feeding on boiled eggs while non insect eating birds are contented with paddy he said.

Sources said the PTR team in order to avoid any legal issue had taken with it the Chainpur forest guard Maharaj Singh but sources said with conviction that this forest guard was too ‘nervous’ at Kankari  when PTR team raided and seized birds.