9 geckos freed, two poachers punished
Mobile courts here punished two people on Monday and the day before for poaching geckos, a reptile locally known as takkhak.
The convicts are Monwara Begum, 40, wife of Razaul Karim of Muslimpara under Guimara union in Matiranga upazila and Taiyab Ali, 35, son of Hafizur Rahman of Headmanpara in Dighinala upazila.
Officer in-charge of Guimara police station Swapan Kumar said, acting on a tip-off, police arrested Monwara along with eight geckos from her Muslimpara residence on Monday evening.
The mobile court, led by Matiranga upazila nirbahi officer Dr. Mostafizur Rahman, later fined her Tk 2,000 following an undertaking and freed the geckos in a nearest forest.
Earlier on Sunday morning, police arrested another poacher, Toiyab Ali, from Jaliapara area under Ramgarh upazila of the district along with a caged gecko while he was going to Chittagong for selling it, said the OC.
Toiyab Ali was produced before a mobile court, led by Ramgarh upazila nirbahi officer Gopal Chandra Das. The court sentenced the gecko poacher to 15 days' imprisonment and freed the gecko.
During interrogation, both the poachers disclosed to police that they started poaching geckos with an aim to earn a handsome amount by selling those to smugglers, the OC said.
As most of the offenders go unpunished, gecko poaching is on rise in the area endangering the species, he said.
Divisional Forest Officer Md Zahurul Islam told this correspondent that the authorities should take punitive steps to stop killing and smuggling of the reptile.
"Besides, campaign is a must to save the geckos for the sake of ecology", he said.
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