Rhino escapes poachers' bid, jawan hurt

Guwahati, July 29 (UNI) A rhino had a miraculous escape from poachers after security personnel were alerted by gun shots at the Kaziranga National Park (KNP).

Chief Conservator of Forests Mohan Malakar said here yesterday that a patrolling party of the Asom Forests Protection Force (AFPF) heard gun shots in the reserved forest area of the KNP on thursday morning.

They spotted a rhino crossing over from the forest area into the park area. Blood stains in the rhino's tail confirmed that it had been injured.

Mr Malakar said, ''After hearing the shots, the security personnel ran to the spot and chased the poachers. But they managed to escape into the dense forests.'' He said the injured rhino was yet to be located for treatment.

Kaziranga DFO Utpal Bora was informed by the KNP that the patrol party came close to the area, where the poachers were camping on thursday evening.

''The poachers fired at us and we retaliated. One of our personnel was injured in the firing,'' he said.

The injured AFPF jawan, Manik Yen, received a bullet injury near the neck and was undergoing treatment at Nowgaon, and he was stated to be out of danger, Mr Bora said.

The DFO informed that operations were on to nab the poachers, who were still believed to be in the reserved forest area, and locate the injured rhino.

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