Four persons have been arrested in Moulvibazar for keeping wildlife and obstructing the work of government officials.
After a tip-off that some persons were gathering snakes at Hotel Rezia on Shamser Nagar Road for smuggling, forest department officials conducted a raid Wednesday evening.
“We first tried to recover the snakes. But the hotel owner barred us. We politely tried to convince them that keeping wildlife is illegal. But the owner was rude to us. At one stage, they forced us out of the hotel premises. Then we called in police,” Moulvibazar Forest Beat Officer Chandan Majumder, who led the drive, said yesterday.
Shaheen of Comilla and Sumon and Matin of Sunamganj were held on charges of keeping the snakes. The forest team recovered ten snakes including four cobras from them.
Police picked hotel owner Babar Rahman, a Bangladesh-born British citizen, as he obstructed the officials in the discharge of their duties.
Chandan Majumder also said there were seven smugglers but some managed to flee.
According to a forest department source, the snakes were caught from different residential houses and bushes in the town. A few days ago another consignment of snakes was sent to the capital.
The four have been sued under Wildlife Act with Moulvibazar Sadar Model Police Station.
They were produced before court yesterday and sent to jail, said Azharul adding the snakes were released at Lawachara National Park following court permission.