Two men in their 20s were arrested in southwestern Bengaluru for trying to sell 18 pairs of black-headed munia, a protected songbird.
Chennammanakere Achukattu police said they arrested Pavan, 27, and Prakash R, 22, near Bhuvaneshwari Nagar in Banashankari 3rd Stage on Tuesday evening and seized all the 36 birds.
Black-headed munias are believed to be on the verge of extinction and come under Schedule 4 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Species covered under Schedule 4 are protected and cannot be hunted.
Speaking to DH, a police officer said the arrested suspects had purchased the birds from the Sunday market in Tirupur, an industrial city in western Tamil Nadu. “They said they brought 18 pairs of them by car,” the officer added.
Police received a tip-off about the bird smuggling around 6.15 pm on Tuesday. The informant said two men had brought the birds in a cage and were trying to sell them near the Chittoor bus stop in Bhuvaneshwari Nagar. A police team rushed to the place and arrested the duo. They have been booked under the Wildlife Protection Act.
According to police, Pavan is a resident of Rajajinagar while Prakash R is from Magadi Road. Though none of them has a criminal record, police are investigating if they had previously tried to buy and sell endangered birds.
The munias have been handed to the Bannerghatta National Park.
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