Three poachers were arrested on Friday for causing a fire that has spread to a large portion of the Jharabeda Reserve Forest under Bimala forest beat of Telkoi Forest Range in Keonjhar district. The accused were identified as Jugal Juanga, Gobardhhan Juanga and Raju Juanga of Namkani village. Earlier, there were repeated incidents of forest fire in the forest. Later, they found poachers were setting fire in the forest for hunting of wild animals
However, a patrolling team on Thursday night spotted three persons armed with bows and arrows and asked them to stop. But the armed miscreants attacked the team in which a Forest Guard sustained multiple injuries. But despite coming under attack, the patrolling team managed to nab the miscreants and seize their weapons. Later, during questioning, they admitted to have set a part of the forest on fire to flush out animals for hunting.