Locals rush to catch Russell’s vipers after AL leader’s bounty announcement

Following the announcement of a Tk 50,000 bounty for catching a Russell’s viper alive, residents along the Padma riverbank in Faridpur have become desperate to capture the snakes.

Last Thursday, Shah Md. Ishtiak Arif, general secretary of the Faridpur district unit of the governing Awami League, announced the Tk 50,000 bounty for each live Russell’s viper in the Kotwali area of Faridpur.

He made the announcement during a speech at a meeting over the party’s founding anniversary.

In response to the announcement, Rezaul Khan, a farmer from Aliabad union, found a Russell’s viper while working in his land and captured it, confining the snake in an aluminium pot.

The farmer then took the snake to local Ward Councillor Awlad Hossain, who instructed him to submit it to the local forest department and obtain an acknowledgement letter.

However, Rezaul expressed frustration as the forest department authorities neither accepted the snake nor provided an acknowledgement letter.

Over the past two days, several snakes have been caught and taken to the forest department, creating chaos as people sought receipts for their captures.

Golam Kuddus Bhuiyan, divisional forest officer, stated that there is no legal provision for catching these snakes, and doing so is considered illegal.

“We can’t provide any acknowledgement letter for this. So far, three people have tried to submit snakes expecting a bounty until Sunday noon. We are facing a problem,” he said.

Meanwhile, Rezaul took the snake to the Faridpur Press Club on Saturday night.