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In a major encounter, three poachers were killed inside Kaziranga National Park in Assam in the wee hours of Friday after a dramatic and gory chase of five hours.
The encounter comes close on the heels of two poachers being nabbed in a separate incident on Wednesday. At least 11 poachers have been killed in the past year alone, while the forest department has foiled 13 poaching attempts this year. It had foiled 25 attempts last year.
These incidents, while serving as strong deterrents, have sent a strong message that the unabated menace of poaching can be controlled, given the will.
A potential habitat of one-horned rhino in Asia, the Unesco Heritage Site is vulnerable to poachers for the horns of the animal, believed to be used in Chinese medicines for aphrodisiac value. A short-handled axe used for chopping horns of one-horned rhino, besides a rifle and 13 live cartridges have been recovered.
Kaziranga DFO DD Gogoi told The Pioneer that based on a tip-off, the frontline staffs were already alert on the entry of a gang of five poachers from the northern side across the Brahmaputra river.
A fierce encounter took place at about 4.45 am, killing two poachers at first in the Kaziranga range (towards the central part of the park). “The third, who had sustained injuries during the encounter, was killed after following his bloody trail for 1.5 km through the dense forest,” said Gogoi. Two others, however, managed to escape and a manhunt is on.
The arrests earlier this week were made when the poachers were trying to enter the park at about 3 am from the eastern range. 303 rifles; ammunitions and axe were seized from their possession.
Gogoi informed that the park has 152 anti-poaching camps spread across 860 sq km, manned by frontline staff round the clock including the peak of floods in the core areas.
Meanwhile, Assam is one of the few States that enjoy special immunity under Section 197 CrPC where the forest department has been given power at par with the police or Army to shoot a poacher directly.
“This is due to the special initiatives of the state government, the park due to its largest population of one horned rhino is vulnerable to poaching,” said Gogoi. According to 2009 census, Kaziranga has 2,048 rhino, which is a 10 per cent rise from the last census conducted in 2006.
The encounter comes close on the heels of two poachers being nabbed in a separate incident on Wednesday. At least 11 poachers have been killed in the past year alone, while the forest department has foiled 13 poaching attempts this year. It had foiled 25 attempts last year.
These incidents, while serving as strong deterrents, have sent a strong message that the unabated menace of poaching can be controlled, given the will.
A potential habitat of one-horned rhino in Asia, the Unesco Heritage Site is vulnerable to poachers for the horns of the animal, believed to be used in Chinese medicines for aphrodisiac value. A short-handled axe used for chopping horns of one-horned rhino, besides a rifle and 13 live cartridges have been recovered.
Kaziranga DFO DD Gogoi told The Pioneer that based on a tip-off, the frontline staffs were already alert on the entry of a gang of five poachers from the northern side across the Brahmaputra river.
A fierce encounter took place at about 4.45 am, killing two poachers at first in the Kaziranga range (towards the central part of the park). “The third, who had sustained injuries during the encounter, was killed after following his bloody trail for 1.5 km through the dense forest,” said Gogoi. Two others, however, managed to escape and a manhunt is on.
The arrests earlier this week were made when the poachers were trying to enter the park at about 3 am from the eastern range. 303 rifles; ammunitions and axe were seized from their possession.
Gogoi informed that the park has 152 anti-poaching camps spread across 860 sq km, manned by frontline staff round the clock including the peak of floods in the core areas.
Meanwhile, Assam is one of the few States that enjoy special immunity under Section 197 CrPC where the forest department has been given power at par with the police or Army to shoot a poacher directly.
“This is due to the special initiatives of the state government, the park due to its largest population of one horned rhino is vulnerable to poaching,” said Gogoi. According to 2009 census, Kaziranga has 2,048 rhino, which is a 10 per cent rise from the last census conducted in 2006.
