Restaurant fined for serving migratory bird meat in Sylhet

A restaurant in Jaintiapur upazila of Sylhet was fined Tk 10,000 today for serving wild and migratory bird meat to customers.

A mobile court team, led by Executive Magistrate Ripamoni Debi, launched a drive at Taru Miah Restaurant in the Haripur area this afternoon, reports our Sylhet correspondent.

"During the drive, the mobile court team found raw and cooked wild and migratory bird meats in the restaurant which the eatery proprietor Wahed Miah admitted to serving," said Ripamoni Debi, also the assistant commissioner (land) of Jaintiapur upazila.

Photo: Collected

"As he admitted his crime, the mobile court fined him Tk 10,000, gave a warning and took his signature on bond not to serve these bird meats in the future," said the executive magistrate.

Meanwhile, the forest department officials who were present during the drive seized raw meats of pygmy goose, dove, waterhen, swamphen, openbill stork, heron and watercock, which were prepared for cooking.

Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, divisional forest officer (wildlife management and nature conservation) of the Forest Department in Sylhet division, said, "We have a central laboratory in Dhaka. These samples will be sent there for analysis and DNA testing. With the report proving the species of the birds, we will file a case against the owner of the restaurant".

Earlier on December 13, 2020, the restaurant and another one adjacent to it were fined Tk 10,000 for the same offence.

Abdul Karim Kim, general secretary of the Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) Sylhet chapter, who was present during the drive, said, "It is clear that there is a syndicate involved behind. During the drive, the bazaar committee leaders rushed to the spot to save the owner of the restaurant. They tried to hide the truth but failed as there was video evidence captured right before the drive".

Taru Miah Restaurant, right beside the Sylhet-Tamabil highway has become a popular destination to feast on wild and migratory birds for more than three decades, he said.

The restaurant along with a few other restaurants in the vicinity continues serving the bird meats round the year, added Abdul Karim.

He demanded arresting the ones involved rather than imposing a fine.