Suspected poacher killed in encounter with forest guards inside Kaziranga

Guwahati, Oct 15: A suspected poacher was shot dead in an exchange of fire with forest guards inside Assam’s Kaziranga National Park in the early hours of Wednesday, officials said.

Based on intelligence inputs about the movement of armed poachers, all anti-poaching camps in the area were put on high alert to conduct searches and seal potential escape routes.

At around 2:50 am, a river patrol team from the Burapahar Range spotted a light source and detected the movement of a group of armed individuals near Maite Tapu.

"When they were asked to stop, the armed poachers opened fire at the forest team. The guards retaliated with controlled fire in self-defence," the official said.

Additional forest personnel were immediately dispatched to the site. During a subsequent search operation, the body of one poacher was recovered, while others managed to flee.

A .303 rifle and a handbag were seized from the spot, officials confirmed. The deceased poacher is yet to be identified.

Search and combing operations are still underway to locate the absconding accomplices.

This incident follows a similar encounter on May 28, where a suspected poacher was shot dead in an encounter with a joint team of forest guards and Assam Police in the Agoratoli range of the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

According to park authorities, the shootout took place near the Dhanbari area following a tip-off about a possible poacher attack on the frontline staff stationed at the Balidubi camp.

With inputs from PTI