Two armed poachers shot dead in ONP

From our Correspondent

MANGALDAI, April 18: In what can be termed as a unique ‘Rongali Bihu’ gift to the people of Assam and a tough and bold step against the organized armed gang of poachers, the dedicated and vigilant staff of Orang tiol Park (ONP) and Tiger Reserve on Monday midnight shot dead two notorious armed poachers in a successful encounter and foiled yet another attempt of rhino poaching in the Park.

The staff of the Park later recovered one .303 rifle along with one magazine, a total of 14 rounds of live ammunition, one empty cartridge and an axe from the spot.  

According to the Divisiol Forest Officer of Mangaldai Wildlife Division, Sunnydeo Choudhary, the forest staff guarding the area in between Baghbari and Khoirasali forest camp in Sonitpur district in the eastern part of the Park at about 1 am noticed movement of some people inside the Park and asked them to establish their identity. But noticing the presence of the forest guards, the armed gang of poachers started firing upon the staff to which the forest staff retaliated in turn.

As more guards reached the spot to start thorough search in the area, two poachers were found lying dead.  The poachers, who are suspected to be around 40-45 years of age, are yet to be identified and look like poachers from galand. Various organizations working on conservation of wildlife and ture including Green Society, Dalgaon Bon aru Banyaparani Suraksha Samiti, Mangaldai Media Circle and Crystal Vision have highly appreciated the timely action of the Park authority and congratulated them.