Wildlife safety priority area for Assam Police

The Times of India , Friday, April 26, 2013
Correspondent :
GUWAHATI: In another desperate move to arrest rampant rhino poaching and pin poachers, the state police on Thursday decided to make wildlife protection as their other primary concern after law and order.

The decision was taken at a joint meeting of the home department, police, civil administration and forest department at Kaziranga on Thursday. Forest minister Rockybul Hussain, who chaired the joint meeting, told TOI: "It has been decided today (Thursday) to make wildlife protection a primary concern for the police. We hope this step will help in curbing poaching."

Earlier, the state government had enacted a law empowering forest guards to shoot at poachers. This was followed by arming forest guards with self-loading rifles after which a dedicated forest protection force was raised to protect wildlife. But, all these measures proved futile as poachers continued their free run in Kaziranga National Park as well as other rhino habitats of the state.

This year alone, 12 rhinos have been killed for their horns in Kaziranga and four in Manas National Park.

The forest minister said that a joint coordination committee comprising forest officials and superintendents of police has been formed for the four districts that Kaziranga straddles - Karbi Anglong, Sonitpur, Golaghat and Nagaon. "The DIG of the CID and forest conservator Utpal Baruah have been made the nodal officers of this coordination committee," he said.

Hussain added that from now onwards, once a month, the SPs of these four districts will visit the forest offices in the areas bordering the national park and meet forest officials and brief them on the situation.

The meeting also decided that posters of poachers who have been arrested and those whose pictures are with the forest department or police will be published and put up in public places to make people aware of the faces involved in the wildlife crime, Hussain said.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Wildlife-safety-priority-area-for-Assam-Police/articleshow/19732178.cms
 


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