Guwahati: A person has been arrested for allegedly offering to sell parakeets on his YouTube channel in Assam’s Kokrajhar district, the official said on Monday.

The arrested accused has been identified as Jahidul Islam.

As per the official, Jahidul was apprehended by Gossaiagaon Police and later handed over to the Forest department.

Based on a complaint by the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the accused was arrested on Friday.

The official said, “After receiving the complaint, the local police was arrested by the police from Gossaigaon, and the next day, he was handed over to the forest department.”

Meanwhile, two parakeets were recovered from Islam.

However, Jahidul was produced before the local court the same day and was sent to judicial custody, the official added.

The involvement of any other person will be known after the investigation, official said.

Catching, trapping and sale of parakeets are illegal under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

The complaint was made against Islam by the body of animals’ rights for his YouTube channel ‘Jahid Lifestyle’ which has videos of the accused and his accomplices entering forested areas, climbing trees to reach the nests of parakeets, and catching them.

As per PETA statement, “On the pretext of creating “educational” content on how to raise and feed parakeets, the YouTuber can be seen on video feeding a mixture of processed sugary biscuits and water to parakeet chicks which is contrary to their natural diet and highly detrimental for their health.”

“PETA India commends the Kachugaon forest division for apprehending the culprit and rescuing the parakeets. Capturing, buying, selling or caging parakeets is illegal and can result in a jail term of up to three years or a fine of up to Rs 25,000 or both,” official added.

Islam’s YouTube channel’s home page, he had started the social media platform on June 12, 2020, has uploaded 326 videos and has 7.64K subscribers, sources said.