Assam CM reviews security measures in Kaziranga over rhino poaching

GUWAHATI — Following the first rhino poaching case if the year at the Kaziranga National Park, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took stock of the situation to avert such cases in the future, officials said on Monday.

Sarma on Sunday visited the vulnerable areas in Kaziranga on the banks of Brahmaputra and had an interaction with the forest guards.

He assessed the security measures at different camps in Kaziranga to put a stop to poaching.

The Chief Minister’s visit came two days after the body of an alleged rhino poacher who had earlier fled from police custody on was found in the Brahmaputra.

Four rhino poachers were the target of an operation on April 14 by the Special Task Force (STF) of the Assam Police in the Batadrava neighbourhood of Nagaon.

While the other three escaped the area, the task team caught one poacher during the operation.

He was identified as Saidul Islam, and a rhino horn weighing 750 grams was recovered from him.

While being taken to the Bagori region of the Kaziranga National Park to find the rhino carcass, Saidul Islam eluded police capture.

He was a resident of Lahorighat in Nagaon. There was no additional information of his death.