ROURKELA : Two persons of a racket involved in smuggling of parrot (Alexandrine Parakeet) chicks were on Tuesday arrested and forwarded to court by Rourkela Forest Division (RFD) authorities.
A total of 82 chicks were recovered from their possession. Rourkela DFO Jaswant Sethi informed that on January 21, two bike-borne youths Munna Sahu (34) of Bondamunda and M Thomas (30) of Nala Road were arrested while they were trying to transport a carton containing 10 chicks. Following their revelation during interrogation, a raid was conducted at a rented house at Nala Road leading to recovery of 72 more parrot chicks.
However, two culprits managed to flee. The DFO said further investigation is underway to arrest the absconding persons and dig out more information on their modus operandi.