Police find preliminary evidence on kingfisher killing

Police, who are investigating a case filed in connection with the killing of a kingfisher in Taltoli upazila of Barguna, said they have found some preliminary evidence that suggest the accused killed the kingfisher out of anger and later posted an image of the murdered bird on social media.  

Officer-in-Charge of Taltoli police station said they are still investigating the incident.

The case was filed on Tuesday against a youth named Kamruzzaman Farooq for allegedly killing a kingfisher after catching it from the nest along with eggs.

A bird lover named Sagor Karmokar filed the case under the Wildlife Conservation Act one day after Farooq posted an image of a kingfisher, which was killed after catching from its case along with eggs, in Facebook that sparked outrage on social media.

Although the accused Kamaruzzaman, a Chhatra Dal leader, claimed that he was not involved in uploading the bird's image on Facebook after slaughtering it from the beginning of the incident, he has not taken any legal action yet.

On the contrary, he has gone into hiding after the case was filed.

Bird and nature lovers in Barguna said Kamruzzaman Farooq, co-organising secretary of Barguna's Taltoli upazila Chhatra Dal, posted the picture on Facebook on Monday with a caption, "I tried to make it go away. Since it didn't work I raided its house."

In addition to a storm of criticism, there was a demand to take legal action against the accused after the image went viral.

Kamruzzaman Farooq has also been expelled from Chhatra Dal after this incident.

Rudra Ruhan, coordinator of the Coastal Environmental Protection Network, said kingfisher is a threatened species in Bangladesh.

Although it was not possible to talk to Kamruzzaman Farooq after the case was filed, however, before going into hiding, he claimed that his Facebook account was opened on a store computer and it was likely that someone posted it from there.