More than 100 parakeets and scores of hill mynas were seized from a mini truck near East Burdwan on Wednesday. The truck was headed for the city, a forest official said.

The driver and the helper of the truck have been arrested.

Trading in such birds is prohibited and both are protected under the wildlife protection act, the official said.

Officers of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau had received specific information a consignment of birds was headed to the city and that they would be sold in various places, including Barasat and Galiff Street.

The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau alerted the forest department offices in Durgapur and Burdwan. Teams of officers from these two areas stopped the truck on NH2 near East Burdwan.

“The birds were crammed in small cages. They could barely move,” a forest department official said. “Both hill mynas and parakeets are protected under the wildlife protection act.”

Most fledglings are captured from the forests of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Agni Mitra, the regional deputy director, wildlife crime control bureau, said.

“The birds are then transported to the city using various modes of transport,” Mitra said.

Animals under schedule I of the wildlife protection act enjoy the highest protection. A person convicted of trading, killing or hunting a schedule I animal faces at least seven years in jail, a forest department official said.

The hill myna is protected under schedule I.

The website of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) says the common hill myna “occurs in moist or semi-evergreen forests in lowlands, hills and mountains. It is known for its ability to mimic sounds, including human speech”.

The population is suspected to be declining because of trade and widespread forest destruction, according to the website.

A conservationist working for an NGO said birds were sold on Galiff Street every Sunday.

Trading begins around 5.30am. “Despite forest department raids, birds protected under the wildlife act are still sold there,” he said.

Many birds don’t survive the long journeys they are forced to undertake in crammed cages, the conservationist said