GUWAHATI: A day after the Kaziranga was opened to tourists, a rhino with its horn missing was found inside the national park on Saturday, taking the toll to 24 his year.

A park official said the rhino was killed on October 30 in the Agoratoli forest range on the eastern part of the park. The sharpshooter, who was involved in killing the rhino, was arrested on Friday. Based on his inputs, park officials traced the carcass.

"The sharpshooter was identified as Kham Sed of Silonijan in Karbi Anglong district. He confessed that he and two of his accomplices were involved in killing the pachyderm. He took our staff to the spot where they had gunned down the animal. We also found a rifle and two bags from the spot," the park official said.

His two accomplices managed to escape during a gunbattle with forest officials on the night of October 30 when the rhino was killed.

"They (poachers) fired a gunshot at 11.25pm. Our staff launched an operation immediately and there were exchanges of fire. The two accomplices of the sharpshooter knew the routes well and managed to escape. But the hunter was new to the park and could not escape. After loitering in the jungle, he managed to come out of the park on Friday. The villagers promptly informed police after they spotted him," the official said.

Kaziranga, a World Heritage Site located about 250km from here, has been experiencing a spurt in rhino deaths over the last one year. The latest poaching took place barely five days after another rhino was killed in the Burapahar forest range on October 25. Even in that incident, heavy exchanges of fire took place between poachers and park officials but the killers managed to escape.