Assam: Suspected Poachers Arrested with Munitions in Nagaon

GUWAHATI: Three suspected poachers have been arrested by Assam Police from the Jakhalabandha area on Tuesday. They were arrested on the input of a weapons supplier who was previously arrested.

The local people had called the police after hearing several gunshots in the locality. And based on the preliminary investigations, the police department arrested a weapons supplier, named Mohan Tanti. Based on his statements to the police, Pawan Das, Kedar Das and Lakhindar Mandal were later arrested on Tuesday. They were arrested from the Sagmuthi Tea Estate located in the Jakhalabandha region of the Nagaon district.

As per the reports, the police also recovered handguns, live ammunition, machetes and axes were recovered from the possession of the three accused.

Several similar arrests have been made in the past to irradicate the poaching issues completely in the state. In a statement made last year, MK Yadav, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forrest Force of Assam said that new techniques and intelligence are being used to stop poaching. Few persons residing in the vicinity of the Kaziranga National Park were found to be involved in supplying arms as well as directly in poaching. One person was arrested and the proof was found linking him to the plans of poaching a One Horned Rhinocerous using weapons supplied from outside.

Recently Pinku Mandal and Hanuman Pandey were arrested by the Biswanath Police last month on similar charges. A rifle and a pistol were recovered from their possession, which they were planning to use for the same purpose. Before that, Buheshwar Chingte and Bhakta Bahadur Thapa were arrested from near the Bokakhat region near the Kaziranga National Park. They were accused of selling and trading rhino horns.

The state government made a very clear statement about the lack of any significance of this aminal body part this year. They had publicly burnt 2479 rhino horns that were confiscated by forest and police departments over the year.

Also Read: Poachers shoot elephant dead, decamp with trunk and tail along Assam-Meghalaya border

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