A youth in Keonjhar district was arrested by the Forest Department on Wednesday for uploading a video of his pet parrot on social media.
The accused has been identified as Chinmay Mohanto from Dumuridihi Sahi village under Kumundi Gram Panchayat in the district. He was arrested by the Forest Department on charges of violating the Wildlife Protection Act.
In the video uploaded on YouTube, it is found that Chinmay is teaching an Alexandrian Parakeet to speak. The video came to the notice of Subhendu Mallik, the honorary wildlife warden of Khordha. Subsequently, he complained to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF). After receiving the complaint, Keonjhar Forest Department arrested Chinmay on charges of violating the Wildlife Protection Act.
“After getting information about the youth making a video on Alexandrian Parakeet, we launched an investigation into the incident. We checked the video from his YouTube channel thoroughly and found that the bird has been tortured and inhumanly portrayed through the video. Subsequently, he was arrested,” said Keonjhar DFO HD Dhanraj.
In response to his arrest, Chinmay said, “I had bought the parrot from the market. I had seen such types of videos on YouTube earlier. Hence, I made a video with my parrot and uploaded it on YouTube. It was my fault. I promise not to repeat it again in the future.”