(IN): Top poacher in NE held

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Top poacher in NE held

Claims he received arms training from NSCN

Rahul Karmakar Guwahati

 

Laws of the jungle

* Poacher Lalkhang Go was arrest ed while he was trying to shoot a rhino in

Pobitora sanctuary

*Arrest reveals nexus bewteen poachers and militants

*Go's involvement in the killing of six rhinos in the Kaziranga National

Park in last three months is being probed

*Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary has the highest number of the one horned

rhinoceros in the world

 

WILDLIFE OFFICIALS caught one of the poaching kingpins of the Northeast in

Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, some 60 km from here, on Sunday The arrest also

revealed . a nexus between the poachers and the militants across the region.

 

 

According to DFO (wildlife) Surajit Dutta, a 12-member team had been

tracking Lalkhang Go and two others for three days. With the help of local

people, forest guards caught Go while he was trying to shoot a rhino in the

sanctuary early Sunday morning. Two of his accomplices, however, managed to

escape.

 

" Go has confessed to have killed rhinos and other animals, " Dutta told HT.

" The poacher also said he had received arms training from the National

Socialist Council of Nagaland. " Go, a Naga from the hills of Manipur, had

been living in Karbi Anglong for a few years.

 

Dutta said officials were on the trail of a yet-to-be-identified Sansar

Chand of Northeast. " We are yet to know if Go fits the bill, but his arrest

should lead us to the bigger sharks. "

 

The man's involvement in the killing of six rhinos in the Kaziranga National

Park in last three months is being probed.

 

According to wildlife activist Azam Siddiqui, Go's arrest was just the tip

of the iceberg. " But wildlife officials should be rewarded for the catch as

they need motivation in this difficult region. "

 

Though officials are yet to establish direct link between Go and NSCN, the

poacher's confession has come at a time when authorities are exploring the

jehadi-poacher nexus in the region.

 

A recent report said Bangladeshbased jehadi groups and their associate

militant outfits in the Northeast were using poachers to fund their terror

campaign.

 

Situated in Assam's Morigaon district, the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary has

the highest number of the one-horned rhinoceros in the world. They number a

little less than 100 in this sanctuary, which also houses Asiatic buffalo,

leopard, wild bear, civet and over 200 species of birds and reptiles.

 

rahconteur