Paonta Sahib, April 17

In a violent clash between forest guards and poachers, which took place last night at the Kalesar National Park located on the Himachal-Haryana border, a resident of Kishenpura village, near Paonta Sahib, was killed and two forest guards were severely injured.

DFO, Yamunagar, Rajesh Gulia told The Tribune over the phone that the incident occurred when the forest guards, assisted by a Block Forest Officer, were on duty in the park. They learnt that some hunters had entered the forest for poaching.

The hunters, who were 11 in number, had positioned themselves near a water body when the forest guards detected their presence. The DFO said the forest guards had just a double-barrel gun, while the hunters appeared to be carrying five guns.

The forest staff tried to catch the hunters. The scuffle which followed, led to accidental firing of gun shots which grievously injured Rampal in his legs.

Forest guard Suresh Pal received five bullet injuries, including one in his head and two each in his butt and shoulder. Another guard Jaswant Singh was also injured. Both have been admitted to the Trauma Centre of Yamunanagar’s Civil Hospital and their condition was stated to be serious.

The DFO said Rampal succumbed to his injuries due to excessive loss of blood as he remained unattended for a long time. His parents, on being informed, went to the forest, about 20 km from Paonta Sahib, and brought back his body.

ASP, Paonta Sahib, G Shiva said a team of policemen from Kizrabad in Haryana had arrived here today and was assisting them to nab the culprits against whom a case had been registered.

The team also visited Rampal’s house and his body was taken for postmortem at the local hospital. The body was later handed over to his parents.

A case under Sections 148, 49, 332, 307 (attempt to murder), 395 and 397 has been registered against the poachers.

The police was trying to locate the other culprits on the basis of a mobile phone recovered from the site as all poachers had managed to flee.