Teen whistleblower on parrot trade racket wins pat

Sai Vignesh helped the police not only to rescue caged parrots from the fortune tellers on the Marina Beach, but also led them to one of the kingpins of the racket. 

Deputy Commissioner Balakrishnan posted in Facebook that at first, he was sceptical and sent just one constable with the boy to the Marina. On the first instance, the boy managed to rescue seven parrots from the fortune tellers on the beach. Balakrishnan, impressed by Sai Vignesh’s work, deputed his special police team for further raids and rescued several such captive parrots, illegally hunted and sold by criminals. 

“I had a misconception that those parrots provided a livelihood to the fortune tellers. But, Sai Vignesh proved me wrong by conducting a study that showed that all those fortune tellers have some other profession and during the evenings they use the parrots to cheat people and in the process, they earn in thousands,” Balakrishnan noted in his Facebook post, congratulating the boy. 

Sai Vignesh, son of a scientist doing research in Anna University, had to discontinue regular schooling due to heavy stammering and some other health problems. He is now pursuing his Class 12 through home schooling. But, nothing stops him when it comes to the issue of rescue and welfare of animals. 

He just did not stop with rescuing the parrots from the fortune tellers, he followed up the links further and helped the police to arrest one of the kingpins in the illegal trade in the city from Pallikkarani.

“Sai Vignesh developed links with the traders after posing as a prospective buyer. He managed to trace the address of the kingpin, which helped us in nabbing him. We had also rescued a few parrots from the criminal. The accused has been handed over to the Forest department for criminal proceedings,” Balakrishnan noted.

Sai Vignesh has a soft corner for animals in need of care and at this young age he runs a rescue and rehabilitation centre called ‘Almighty Adoption Centre’ for abandoned or injured dogs at his home at Meghala Nagar, Vengaivasal, with ample support from his father. “I rescue abandoned, injured and unwanted dogs, give them care and treatment. Once they are healthy, I give them up for adoption,” Sai Vignesh told DTNext. 

On the parrot trade, Sai Vignesh elaborated that an organised gang was behind it. Each bird was sold for anything between Rs 2,000 and Rs 3,000. Hunters trapped the birds from the wild and discretely sold them to fortune tellers and pet shops.

He further said that the fortune tellers too have found a new business opportunity in big weddings, where they were invited as an attraction. They make anywhere between Rs 7,000 and Rs 10,000 from each programme. They could get about five such programmes every month. He added that caged birds were kept for sales even in Koyambedu market.