Kaziranga (Assam)

Two poachers were killed today in an encounter with security forces in the Kaziranga National Park.

Acting on a tip-off about the presence of a four-member gang inside the Park, a team of forest staff and police along with the CRPF, launched a joint operation in and around the Park’s Burapahar range.

An encounter followed at Kukurakata Hills near Rangalu Forest camp in which the two poachers were killed, a senior Park official said.

The police and CRPF personnel cordoned off NH-37 to prevent the poachers from escaping and a massive search operation has been launched to nab the two poachers who managed to escape.

Two .303 rifles, sixteen rounds of ammunition and two mobile phones were recovered from the encounter site.

Altogether, 26 poachers have been killed so far this year while more than 20 arrested from different districts in and around the Park.

The poachers have killed eleven rhinos so far this year.

PTI