(IN) Open war in Kaziranga now

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Bullets rain down on battleground Kaziranga *

Times of India, 20 September 2009, *

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/guwahati/Bullets-rain-down-on-battl\

eground-Kaziranga-/articleshow/5034884.cms

 

 

GUWAHATI: Kaziranga shuddered as bullets rained down on the forest terrain.

Barely recovering from the triple blow dealt out on Saturday, the national

park braced itself for more trauma as poachers and forest officials engaged

in a fierce gunbattle that lasted late into the night.

 

In the end, though, the poachers managed to escape, through the hilly

terrain of adjoining Karbi Anglong district, even after forest guards fired

several rounds to nab them.

 

The rogue gang, comprising 4-5 sharpshooters from Nagaland, Manipur and

Karbi Anglong, was the one who had killed a rhino and chopped off its horn

earlier on Saturday evening. They were ambushed by armed forest officials

about half-an-hour after the rhino was gunned down near Jamuguri Beel, a

marshy wetland under Burapahar forest range of Kaziranga.

 

The hail of bullets continued as the poachers started taking the route

through Bagse Reserve Forest to Karbi Anglong. Till 10.50 pm, at least 55

rounds were fired by guards at a place called Rhinoland park, bordering

Karbi Anglong. But the poachers dodged and fled. " Not only have we launched

a search operation, we are also on the lookout for the linkman, " Kaziranga

divisional forest officer D D Gogoi said.

 

Taking advantage of a brief spell of thunderstorm at around 3 pm on

Saturday, the hunters gunned down the rhino at 3.20 pm. A forest official

admitted that the thunderstorm delayed their response to some extent.

However, the official ruled out locals' involvement in the latest rhino

poaching.

 

" Our intelligence sources said a seasoned poacher now based in Karbi Anglong

provided all kinds of assistance to the gang for sneaking into the park. We

don't want to disclose his name as we are formulating a strategy to nab him.

One thing is for sure - no local villagers connived with the poachers as

guides, " the official said on condition of anonymity. Kaziranga National

Park, about 250 km from here, is also a World Heritage Site and houses

two-thirds of the world's one-horned rhino population.

 

Following the recent surrender and arrest of a number of local poachers and

villagers who helped sharpshooters as guides, Kaziranga saw a brief lull in

rhino killing this year. A man called Farse Killok Rangber, a notorious

local poacher, who was involved in the killing 22 rhinos since 1992, is now

behind bars.

 

Sources said the same gang had made at least 11 attempts at rhino poaching,

which had been aborted after disruption by residents of the adjoining

villages. " We could manage to break the local chain of helpers. But our

concern is over the gang that is now getting help from a Karbi Anglong-based

poacher, who knows the park like the back of his hand. We suspect he is the

one who had earlier assisted the poachers in killing a rhino at Bagori on

August this year, " the forest official said.

 

On the other hand, the gang involved in killing a tusker at Karbi Anglong,

has posed as a fresh threat for a 1000-odd elephant herd that frequently

travels between Kaziranga and the forest in the neighbouring district. The

latest jumbo poaching at Sarchuk area between Panbari Reserve Forest and

Dolamara forest range took place after a gap of almost two years. The tusks

and trunk of this sub-adult elephant were chopped off by poachers about

three days back.

 

" The latest elephant killing has increased the risk of poachers entering

into Panbari Reserve Forest, which is a vital corridor for the elephants of

Kaziranga, " said Garga Mohan Das, project officer of WWF-Indian

Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape Conservation Programme.

 

Law and order disturbances have made Karbi Anglong a safe haven for

poachers, who can easily escape after killing rhinos in Kaziranga. In recent

years, there had been about two incidents where suspected militants snatched

arms from Kaziranga forest guards. Unesco's World Heritage Committee (WHC),

at its 33rd session in Seville (Spain) in June this year, had asked New

Delhi to strengthen the anti-poaching mechanism by using better equipment in

Kaziranga National Park. "