Vigil on Gorumara 'poachers'

TT, Jalpaiguri: Movement of "outsiders" in the core areas of Gorumara National Park at night has prompted the forest department to step up vigil against possible poachers.

Sources said foresters and forest dwellers had seen a group of seven-eight persons roaming around in the dense areas of Gorumara that is home to rhinos, leopards, elephants, deer and several other animals at night in the past few days.

"We suspect the group has wrong intentions. Otherwise, why would anybody enter the forest at night?" asked a forester.

In April last year, it was revealed that an organised gang of poachers, including professional shooters from the Northeast, had killed two rhinos and taken away the horns.

"After a year, such activities have left us alert as hunters operated in a similar manner earlier. They had entered the forest at night and killed the animals," said the forester.

The sources said security had been beefed up at the park after last year's poaching.