4 poachers from Arunachal held

Four wildlife poachers, who hail from Miao in Arunachal Pradesh, were arrested in north Bengal. A traditional rifle, a pistol, some live bullets and an elephant tusk were recovered from them. 

All four accused were between the age group of 35 to 45 years. One of them also claimed himself to be a jawan of the central paramilitary force, Assam Rifles. Forest officials were verifying his claim. B Sarkar, the divisional forest officer (in-charge) of Baikantapur forest division in Jalpaiguri, said that the gang has been behind at least three poaching incidents in north Bengal in the past three years. “So far they have confessed to the poaching of a rhino at the Gorumara National Park in 2014, and the poaching of two tuckers at Gorubathan in western Dooars in 2012-13,” Sarkar said.