District Superintendent of Police said the police had been tracking people who kill birds that flock to the wetlands in the district during winter. File
| Photo Credit: AP
The police in central Assam’s Majuli district arrested 17 people for allegedly poisoning migratory birds.
District Superintendent of Police Horen Tokbi said some poisonous substances and other items were recovered from the arrested individuals, presumed to have killed the bird for consumption.
“We handed them over to the Forest Department for necessary action,” he told The Hindu.
Mr. Tokbi said the police had been tracking people who kill birds that flock to the wetlands in the district during winter. “With the help of some local people, we managed to catch them red-handed on Monday (January 26, 2026),” he added.
A Forest Department official said the 17 were booked under relevant clauses of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 and would be presented before a local court on Wednesday (January 28, 2026).
“All the birds were greylag geese (of the waterfowl family Anatidae). We recovered three carcasses, and three more died during treatment. Five were saved,” a Forest official said.
The official said that the incident happened in an agricultural field in the district’s Kamargaon area, which was beyond the department’s jurisdiction.
Published – January 28, 2026 01:19 am IST
