The year began on a brutal note for the Asian one-horned rhinos with three incidents of poaching reported in a row in January. These consecutive killings of the species classified as vulnerable under the Red list of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) occurred in UNESCO heritage site of Kaziranga in Assam.
According to sources, after the killing of a rhino on Sunday last in Kaziranga, poachers once again shot dead another one in the protected area during the wee hours of Wednesday. The horns of the dead animals were axed off by the poachers.
“Gun shots were heard from the Burhapahar range around 12.30 pm and an operation was launched immediately. But on Wednesday morning the forest guards recovered a carcass of the rhino from near the Deochur camp in the Burhapahar range of the park.” said the park official.
Authorities recovered 28 rounds of empty cartridges of M4 rifle, indicating involvement of militants behind the killing of the one-horned rhino. The three incidents took place in the same range of the park.
“There was a shootout between the forest guards and poachers near Turikati anti-poaching camp under Burhapahar range of the park around 1 am today. However, the forest guards recover a carcass of a rhino on Wednesday morning and the horn was missing,” said a senior official.
Assam Forest Minister Etuwa Munda said the concerned Range Officer P Burhagohain has been transferred following two killings of the animal within a week, in his range.
“We have taken the matter seriously and an Armed unit of the Assam police will be sent to the Kaziranga national park immediately after the South Asian Games. The Assam Police is also sending two dozens of SlRs to the guards deployed in the Kaziranga National Park,” said Munda while talking to The Pioneer on Wednesday.
Munda hinted involvement of militants behind the incident as the forest guards have recovered around 28 empty cartridges of M-4 rifle, which is basically used by the militants in the region. Also, he indicated the hands of the same group in both the killings on Sunday and Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a total of 16 one-horned rhinos have been poached in Kaziranga last year. While the armed Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF) guards the over 400 square kms national park, the Central Bureau of Investigation had already taken up the probe to nab the culprits.