The Other Side of Hadis: Bird trader exposed as wildlife trafficker behind country’s largest wildlife rescue
Wildlife trafficker Hadis Rahman was arrested in an operation that culminated in the discovery of the country’s largest-ever wildlife consignment, with 42 wild animals seized from Eastern Housing in Mirpur
On 9 June, at around 11 in the morning, two separate incidents began unfolding at the same time.
At the centre of both was one man: Hadis Rahman.
In public, he was a bird trader; behind the scenes, a wildlife trafficker.
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While Hadis was being produced before court on 9 June, the Wildlife Crime Control Unit of the Forest Department was conducting a raid on his warehouse in Dhaka.
The incidents trace back to the evening of 7 June when a source of Wildlife Inspector Asim Mallik informed him that some wild animals were being kept in a house in Chakaria, Cox's Bazar. They would soon be sent off for trafficking.
Asim asked, "How reliable is your information?"
The source replied, "100%."
To Khulna, bypassing Dhaka
Asim informed his senior authorities about the matter in Chakaria. The authorities permitted Asim to set out with a team. Some time was spent preparing for the journey.
In the meantime, the source reached out again, saying the trafficker seemed to have sensed trouble closing in and had already moved the animals to another warehouse. Asim asked him to check again. The source made inquiries and found the location of the new warehouse too.
When Asim told him about the plan to set off, the source said, "It will take you at least 10 hours to reach the spot. By then the traffickers may have left. So it would be better if the regional forest division conducts the raid."
Asim asked, "Which route do you think they will use for trafficking?"
The source replied, "They will not enter Dhaka. They will bypass it and go to Khulna."
From the moment he heard it, the words "they will not enter Dhaka" kept circling in Asim's mind.
Did that mean there was another warehouse in Dhaka? He did not say anything to the source at that moment. Thinking that the first task should be dealt with first, he sent word to the Chattogram regional forest division. He requested them to conduct a raid in Chakaria.
Largest consignment
The Chattogram Forest Division acted without delay and instructed a team from Dulahazara Safari Park to conduct the raid.
During that operation, wildlife trafficker Hadis Rahman was arrested red-handed with 12 yellow tortoises and one langur.
Although evidence of Hadis's involvement in trafficking had been found before, this was the first time he had been caught red-handed. Following this, within a day, on 9 June, Hadis was produced before court.
While the hearing of the case was under way, the Crime Control Unit, led by Asim, reached Hadis's warehouse in Dhaka.
Asim had extracted information about this Dhaka warehouse from the same source mentioned earlier. After handing over the operation to the Chattogram Forest Division, Asim contacted the source again. The thought that Hadis might have a warehouse in Dhaka had become fixed in Asim's mind.
At first, the source pretended not to know anything. Perhaps he was afraid, or perhaps he had some interest linked to the warehouse. But Asim kept trying to convince him: "He should do this for the country. If wildlife trafficking continues like this, the balance of the environment will be destroyed; not only animals, but humans too will suffer."
After much persuasion, the source finally gave some hints.
On the basis of those hints, the largest wildlife consignment in the country's history was seized from Eastern Housing in Mirpur. It included one great hornbill, three spectacled langurs, 13 hill yellow tortoises, 3 porcupines, 3 slow lorises, 1 eagle owl, 3 Asian palm civets, and a total of 42 wild animals.
Who are the sources?
Asim was asked about his informants or sources.
He said, "Usually, information comes from rival groups. Hadis too has given us information at various times."
"They provide information for two reasons: to put a business rival in trouble, and to prove themselves to be good," he added.
There are three stages in the trafficking process.
In the first stage, there are the animal-collecting groups. In the middle are the middlemen.
Usually, influential local people work as middlemen. They either pay the collectors nominal wages or recruit them through coercion. Once animals have been collected, the middlemen send word to four or five trafficking groups. The middlemen drive up the price of the animals through a process similar to an auction.. Sources are usually found among those who fail to buy."
Within a short period, Hadis had become more powerful than other traffickers. Day after day, he stayed in the hills and forest areas. He spent a lot of money. He did not want any rival anywhere near him. The middlemen trapped the collectors, and Hadis set traps for the middlemen. Hadis had become a mafia figure in the wildlife trafficking ring. His rivals too were waiting for an opportunity to have him caught, and that opportunity arose on 7 June. The court sentenced him to one year's imprisonment on 9 June.
"When we entered the warehouse, we could not breathe because of the terrible stench. The animals were gasping in the heat. Without any distinction, all the animals had been given carrots or bananas to eat. In fact, the animals are kept weak so that they do not have the strength to call out." – Asim Mallik, wildlife inspector of the Wildlife Crime Control Unit under the Ministry of Forests and Climate Change
First case in 2021
The first case against Hadis had been filed by Asim himself.
That was 5 years ago, in May 2021. At the time, Hadis's bird shop, Mahim Aquarium Bird Palace, was in Mirpur 11. Behind the sale of munia birds, lovebirds and budgerigars, he was also selling parakeets, hill mynas, drongos, parrots and mynas.
Acting on information, the Crime Control Unit conducted a raid and rescued 10 parrot chicks, one hill myna chick, three hornbill chicks, one spotted owlet, a Brahminy kite and a black kite, and two parakeet chicks. For selling illegal birds, Asim filed a case against shop owner Hadis under the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, 2012.
Along with the list of seized items, Asim submitted a description of the entire incident to the court. A portion of it reads as follows:
"Today, on 13/05/2021, at approximately 1:30pm, on the basis of secret information, in the presence of the witnesses mentioned in the witness column, the undersigned, from a distance of approximately 20 to 25 yards from the spot, saw that the accused named in the column, Mr Md Hadis Rahman, was illegally buying and selling various species of native birds and bird chicks at 'Mahim Aquarium Bird Palace', owned by him and situated adjacent to Road No. 03, Kacha Bazar, Mirpur 11, Dhaka district.
As we moved quickly towards the spot and advanced to apprehend the accused bird seller, he recognised us by our government uniforms and quickly ran away through the lane towards the north-west. We ran after him to catch him. But as the area was densely populated, he was able to go into hiding and it was not possible to arrest him. However, in daylight we clearly recognised the accused, whom we will be able to identify before the learned court."
That time, because Hadis could not be caught red-handed, the case required six hearings to conclude. The verdict came towards the end of 2023. In that case, Hadis was fined Tk 10,000.
When the gaze turned to mammals
After 2022, Hadis was not seen in the bird trade for some time.
It was assumed that he had given up the illegal business and had reformed. Later, he was seen opening a bird shop named Bird Palace in Mirpur 1.
There was nothing particularly suspicious about that either. Rather, whenever he saw members of the Crime Control Unit, he tried to offer them hospitality. He said all the right things: wildlife trade is not good; those who do it are undoubtedly bad people; they need to be brought to justice; if you need any help from me, let me know, and so on.
In reality, during this period, he was reorganising himself. He had become more ambitious, turning his focus to larger mammals. He developed links with international trafficking networks and established a strong base in the hills and forest areas.
The first sign of this was seen towards the end of 2025.
One early morning, Shah Ali police station seized six langurs from a covered van. When the driver of the vehicle was interrogated, he said the consignment belonged to Hadis.
But because Hadis could not be caught red-handed, he once again slipped through the net. This time, however, the Wildlife Crime Control Unit became active. Surveillance on Hadis was increased.
At the beginning of May 2026, a source sent word that one of Hadis's consignments would move at the beginning of the following month. This was the same consignment that materialised on 7 June, when Hadis was caught red-handed. Information was also found about his warehouse in Dhaka.
Masquerading as a pigeon farm
Hadis had rented the warehouse saying it would be used as a pigeon farm.
The house in which the warehouse was located was three storeys high. Low-income people lived in 18 rooms on the lower two floors.
Hadis's warehouse was located on the top floor beneath a tin shed. When Asim and his team arrived, they found it locked, but by peering inside, they confirmed the presence of wild animals. Asim later verified from the caretaker of the building that the warehouse belonged to a man named Hadis.
Hadis would not come to the warehouse very often. He would visit occasionally to pay the rent. He had rented it a year and a half earlier, and his employees looked after it.
Asim asked the caretaker whether they had ever gone upstairs to see what was there. The caretaker said, "The employees come at night. In the morning, they lock the place and leave again. Once or twice, when we wanted to see inside, they stopped us with various excuses. In fact, what we needed was the rent. We received it by the fifth of every month. Besides, there was no noise or trouble that would make us suspicious."
At one stage of the operation, members of the Crime Control Unit went to Hadis's shop in Mirpur 1 to bring an employee.
The employee claimed to know nothing. Later, when he was brought before the caretaker, the caretaker identified him and said, yes, this was the boy who had locked the place in the morning. Gradually, the young man, named Sajuddin, accused No. 1, disclosed everything. After recording his statement, Asim Mallik filed a case at Rupnagar police station, naming Hadis as accused No. 2 and Hadis's wife as accused No. 3.
Never before had such a large consignment been seized in Bangladesh.
The warehouse had been used for trafficking for a year and a half, which means Hadis was connected to a large international trafficking network. The Crime Control Unit is now trying to bring others involved in the network under the law.
Wildlife is trafficked from Bangladesh to Dubai, China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Qatar, the United States and other countries, or Bangladesh is used as a trafficking route. Much of the buying and selling now takes place online.
Hadis's wife, Khushi Rahman, handled online sales on his behalf. The Forest Department is also looking for Khushi Rahman. After the warehouse was identified, she went deep underground.
Tortoise soup
Asim said, "When we entered the warehouse, we could not breathe because of the terrible stench. The animals were gasping in the heat. Without any distinction, all the animals had been given carrots or bananas to eat. In fact, the animals are kept weak so that they do not have the strength to call out."
"Each animal is put inside a bag and transported by CNG-run auto-rickshaw. We rescued the animals and brought them to the rescue centre at Ban Bhaban. Then, after they were examined by a veterinary doctor, they were given saline and appropriate food. The animals are now being cared for at Dulahazara Safari Park. Once they recover fully, they will later be released into nature," Asim added.
Asim said, "People have all sorts of unusual interests in wild animals. Expanding a private zoo is a common one. But the idea of becoming 'Superman' by cooking animal meat or consuming it as soup is far more unusual. Another strange practice is enhancing one's appearance by making ornaments from animal claws, beaks and shells. For example, the meat of the hill yellow tortoise is consumed as soup, while its shell is used to make ornaments,"
Rupnagar police station provided special assistance in the operation to rescue the wild animals from Hadis's warehouse. When the Crime Control Unit contacted 999, they sent two nearby police units. Later, the 999 authorities called again to confirm whether assistance had been received.
However, Asim Mallik expressed regret that in many cases it is not possible to stop trafficking because of weak surveillance at the airport. Since the Crime Control Unit has no protection system of its own, traffickers often take advantage of this. Members of the unit sometimes find themselves at risk of their lives. Asim hopes the government will take swift action in this regard.
Photo courtesy: Forest Department
