A full-grown female rhino was shot dead and its horn sawed off by poachers two of who were subsequently gunned down by forest guards in Assam's Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.
Official sources said the incident took place near the Tuplung forest camp in Morigaon district past midnight on Tuesday.
"On hearing gunshots, the forest guards searched the area and recovered carcass of a rhino. Subsequently, they spotted a gang of around eight fleeing poachers and chased them leading to an encounter. In the gun-battle, two poachers were killed but others managed to flee under the cover of darkness," divisional forest officer Dibyadhar Gogoi told dna.
He said one of the slain poachers was a driver from Churachandpur district of Manipur. A mobile phone and a .303 rifle along with 10 live cartridges were recovered.
"The mobile phone will help us track down the other poachers," Gogoi added.
Pobitora has around 100 rhinos. This is the first incident of poaching of the animal at the wildlife sanctuary this year. With this, altogether 12 rhinos have been killed in the state in 2014. Eleven others were shot dead at the Kaziranga National Park.
