Three held for smuggling rose-ringed parakeets, munias in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: Forest officials in Villupuram in Tamil Nadu on Monday arrested three people for smuggling 85 live rose-ringed parakeets and 80 munias. These birds are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act.
The arrested have been identified as S Vetrivel, 28, and B Rajadurai, 22, both hailing from Trichy. Officials also arrested an auto driver, identified as A Harikrishnan, 41, of Tiruvennainallur.
Villupuram district forest officer S Anand said Vetrivel and Rajadurai collected young parakeets from Narikoravas in Tiruchi. The young birds were stuffed in bamboo baskets and transported on a bus to Tiruvennainallur. Then they hired an autorickshaw to reach Villupuram.
TRAFFIC – India, a wildlife crime detection organisation, gathered information about the accused and alerted forest officials. The officials arrested the trio and registered cases against them.