A police officer sustained injuries after he was attacked by a suspected poacher in a village close to the Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
The incident happened late evening on Tuesday in Lokhijan village when two police teams had gone to nab the poachers.
“We had information about illegal dealing of arms by rhino poachers. When me and a constable arrived there and tried to arrest them, one of the poachers took out a dao (machete) and attacked me,” said Mayurjit Gogoi, the officer in charge of Kamargaon police station who suffered serious injury on his left hand.
The two poachers fled after the attack as Gogoi fell on the ground. Gogoi has been referred to Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh for treatment.
“Since it was night time and there were villagers as well, we didn’t think it was appropriate for us to open fire,” said SS Panesar, the additional superintendent of police, Golaghat who was also part of the operation.
Panesar said the police have recovered a .303 rifle said to be the weapon of preference of the rhino poachers. “We have registered a case. The culprits have been identified and will be nabbed soon. One of them is facing several cases related to poaching in Karbi Anglong and Golaghat,” Panesar said.
Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO world heritage site, is home to several endangered species, including the highest number of one-horned rhinoceros, often the target of poachers.
Due to stringent patrolling by the forest officials and police, incidents of poaching have come down in the park. P Sivakumar, director of Kaziranga, said in 2019 three rhinos were killed and 54 poachers have been arrested in four districts of Golaghat, Nagaon, Biswanath and Sonitpur.
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