A total of 14 people were sent to jail on Thursday, for stealing cameras that were installed in the Sunderbans to count tigers.
The Forest Department held the 14 fishermen and boatmen from different areas of the Sundarbans, Satkhira Range Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) AKM Iqbal Hossain Chowdhury said.
The arrestees are- Jahangir Hossain, Abdul Wahab, Abul Hossain, Md Mahibullah, Nurul Alam, Abdur Rahim, Amzad Hossain, Asadul Islam, Ripon Hossain, Babar Ali, Amjad Hossain, Yunus Ali, Munnaf Gazi and Akbar Hossain. All of them are residents from different areas of Shyamnagar and Koyra upazila.
“Two separate cases were filed against them at a Satkhira court, where they were shown arrested and sent to jail,” said AKM Iqbal Hossain Chowdhury.
Amir Hossain, Ripon's father, said his son was arrested for fishing in the sanctuary. “The forest department framed innocent fishermen on false charges after failing to arrest the real criminals.”
The Forest Department started setting up a total of 1,330 cameras at 665 spots in the Sundarbans to count tigers, deer and pigs, in the first week of January.
Burigoalini Forest Station Officer of West Sundarbans Satkhira Range of Forest Department Noor Alam said that 376 cameras have already been installed in the Satkhira range.
Among them, eight cameras installed in the Notabenki Sanctuary in the Sundarbans were found missing. Sundarbans forest department officials came to know about the theft in the first week of February.
