State orders CID probe into cases of rhino poaching

MP, 29 April 2017, Kolkata: The state Forest department has asked the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe into the poaching of two rhinos whose carcasses were recovered from Gorumara National Park. The government had earlier formed a committee to look into the incident.

Following the recovery of the carcasses of two full-grown rhinos earlier this year the state government formed the committee. It has always been a major concern for the Forest department officials as smugglers have been operating from North Bengal who were entering the state by using the Assam border. 

State Forest minister Binay Krishna Barman said that one rhino was poached in February while the other in March this year. The Forest department officials started a probe in this regard and a committee was formed in this connection. Now, the CID will carry out a probe into the incident. The state Forest department officials were in touch with their counterparts in Assam in this connection. The recent killing of two rhinos at Gorumara National Park raised questions over security in the area. This had prompted the department to form a committee to find out if there were any lapses of the Forest department officials.  State Forest Minister Binoy Kumar ordered for a high-level committee to probe into potential lapses on the part of the forest officials.

Two one-horned rhinoceroses were retrieved from the park on Friday. According to reports, poachers had killed the rhinos several weeks ago and had hidden the bodies inside the park. Forest officials reportedly only came to know about the poaching after rhino horns were recovered from a group of smugglers in Assam.

According to a senior official of the state Forest department, it is suspected that some militants from Manipur might have been involved in the incident. Statistics said that those who were found to be involved in smuggling rhino horns were Manipur militants, the official said.