Jamshoro raid recovers 1,700 dead wild birds, five arrested

Wildlife officials in Jamshoro district recovered 1,700 dead wild birds, most of them stored in freezers, during a raid and arrested five men accused of trapping the birds and selling their meat across Sindh, the provincial wildlife department said.

Chief Conservator of Wildlife Javed Ahmed Mehar said the seized birds included babblers, coots, mallards, pintails and other species. They were found slaughtered, with their skin and feathers still at the site. He said more than 700 of the birds are not considered halal for consumption, but the suspects presented the meat as edible and halal to buyers.

According to the department, the men caught the birds with nets, slaughtered them, kept the carcasses in freezers and supplied markets in different districts when orders came in. Mehar said the illegal trade in wild birds is not simply a matter of selling meat but concerns wildlife conservation, because each species has its own ecological importance.

The arrested men were named as Imam Bakhsh Mallah, Nizamuddin Mallah, Rashid Solangi, Shah Nawaz Solangi and Sultan Mallah. A case, number 11, has been registered against them under the Sindh Wildlife Protection Act 2020 and is to be put before the court of the district and sessions judge in Jamshoro for summary trial.

Mehar said the law itself has been reviewed and approved, penalties and fines for offenders have been raised, and a summary trial procedure has been introduced to decide cases quickly. The sessions judge's court has been designated a trial court so that hearings and rulings in wildlife cases move faster, he said.

According to department figures, 440 cases were registered for violations of wildlife laws between 2020 and 2026. Courts have decided 309 of them and 131 are still pending. Mehar put the conviction rate in these cases at 70 percent.

The department lists Jamshoro, Dadu, Qambar, Thatta, Sujawal and Badin as key centres of the illegal trade in wild birds. A ban under Section 144 is already in force in these areas to curb the hunting and trading of birds.

The Independent Urdu report on the raid carried the department's account of the operation, the names of the arrested men and the case number.