A group of fishermen found a 2.5 feet gharial in the river Padma at Kabirpur Char of Harirampur upazila in Manikganj early yesterday.
Gharial is one of the most critically endangered reptile species of the country living in sweet water.
On Saturday night, fisherman Haren Halder of Purba Balikanda village along with six others went fishing in the river, reports our Manikganj correspondent.
The gharial was caught in the wee hours of yesterday when they threw the net into water, Haren Halder said.
The fishermen brought the gharial to their village around 10:00am yesterday and kept it at Balla Bazar in a big pot.
Hundreds of villagers came to see the gharial. Most of them mistook it for a crocodile.
Arua Union Parishad Chairman Saifur Rahman Khan arrived and requested the fishermen not to kill the gharial. He asked them to keep it at the bazaar so that people can see and concerned officials can take necessary steps.
On information, wildlife expert Anisuzzaman Khan went to see the gharial. He told The Daily Star over phone, the fishermen had tied the jaws of the gharial and people were poking it with sticks. It had become very weak.
Gharial, surviving for at least two million years, has been included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Data Book as a species on the verge of extinction.
SMA Rashid, an executive of the CARINAM, an organisation working to save reptiles, said, they had carried out a survey and found six gharials in last year in Padma.
“Last year some fishermen captured two baby gharials. Those were sent to Dhaka and Rajshahi zoos, but both of them died within a month,” he said.
“The captured gharial should be released immediately in the nature,” he said.
Harirampur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Apurba Kumar Mandal said he had informed the upazila social forestry officer about the matter.
Officer-in-Charge of Manikganj Social Forestry Riazul Motin said they had been preparing to send the gharial to Dula Hazra Safari Park of Cox’s Bazar.
