A group of poachers shot dead a rhino and cut off its horn on Thursday night in the Arikati area of Agoratoli forest range on the eastern part of the park, about 250 km from here. The carcass was found on Friday. Nine rhinos have been killed in Kaziranga and 12 in the state since January this year.

The forest department deployed two battalions of the newly raised Assam Forest Protection Force in Kaziranga last week. However, this did not stop poachers from killing the rhino and escaping with its horn. The two battalions, comprising about 300 personnel, were deployed to assist the forest guards in vulnerable areas, including Agoratoli, Burapahar and Bagori forest ranges.

On Thursday, soon after gunshots were heard from the Arikati area, forest guards cordoned the area and fired at the poachers who were holed up there. The exchanges of fire lasted almost an hour, but the poachers managed to escape with the horn.

Rhino horns are usually smuggled through the porous India-Myanmar border in Manipur's border town Moreh. The horns are usually used in traditional Chinese medicines and are in high demand in China and Vietnam. However, the items have no medicinal properties.

"It's very unfortunate that we lost another rhino. We tried to arrest the poachers, but they managed to escape. We have stepped up vigilance and intelligence gathering network," park director N K Vasu said.

Vasu said the poachers sneaked into the park from four different locations, making it difficult to get hold of them. "Various groups of poachers have now joined hands, making it difficult to arrest them. The poaching pressure has also mounted manifold as a result. Earlier poachers operated in small groups and it was relatively easy to deal with them," a forest official said.

In the backdrop of the rise in poaching, Asian coordinator for International Rhino Foundation, Bibhab Kumar Talukdar said it is high time for the forest department to review the entire anti-poaching strategy and put in place a stringent and effective mechanism.