<i>Three poachers held with slaughtered deer, skins</i>

Police arrested two poachers with two deer skins and two kilograms of venison in Chila area of Mongla upazila in Bagerhat on Friday.Photo: STAR

Law enforcers in separate drives arrested three poachers and recovered slaughtered deer, deer skins and venison from their possession yesterday and on Friday.
Forest department officials in a drive arrested a poacher along with a slaughtered deer in Chila area of Mongla upazila yesterday morning.
Mihir Kumar Do, divisional forest officer of the Sundarbans, east zone, said Manoranjan Biswas, 45, son of Sharat Chandra Biswas of the upazila entered the Sundarbans a few days back for fishing with permission from forest department.
He caught a spotted deer on Saturday night by setting trap and slaughtered it in the forest.
Mihir Kumar said, a forest department mobile team intercepted a boat in the Pashur river and arrested Monoranjan along with a slaughtered deer, its skin, 15 kgs venison, several traps for catching deer and sharp weapons.
A case was filed against him with local police station.
Earlier on Friday, Mongla police arrested two poachers with two deer skins and two kilograms of venison from the same area of the canal.
The arrestees were identified as Md. Shahidullah Chawkidar, 30, and Md. Kasem Ali, 70, of Amratola village under Mongla upazila.
Officer in charge (OC) of Mongla police station Nikhil Chandra Mondal said the duo entered into the Sundarbans taking permission for catching crabs a few days ago.
Instead of catching crabs, they hunted two deer and sold the venison in their locality, the OC added.
On a tip-off, police arrested them on Friday and a court sent them to the jail on Saturday, he said.
At least 40 poachers have so far been arrested along with slaughtered deer, venison, skin, deer head and sharp weapons from the Sundarbans under Mongla and Sharankhola upazilas in the last three months, sources said.