Guwahati: A suspected poacher was killed in an exchange of fire with forest guards in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park in the early hours of Wednesday, an official said.
Kaziranga National Park’s director Sonali Ghosh said that intelligence inputs had indicated the movement of armed poachers inside the park, following which all anti-poaching camps were immediately alerted.
“All anti-poaching camps were alerted to conduct searches and seal possible exit routes,” she added.
Around 2:50 am, a river patrol team from the Burapahar Range spotted light emanating from an unidentified object in the Maite Tapu area and noticed the movement of a group of armed poachers.
“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.
Ghosh said that once the situation was brought under control, additional forces from the range headquarters joined the operation.
“During the subsequent search, the body of one unidentified poacher was found at the site. It was sent to a government hospital, where doctors confirmed the death,” she added.
The body of the poacher is yet to be identified.
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Meanwhile, further search and combing operations are ongoing to apprehend the other members of the group who managed to escape from the spot.
Officials said one .303 rifle and a handbag were recovered from the spot.
