India: Authorities of Kaziranga National Park, about 250 km from here, foiled rhino poaching attempt by killing one of the poachers on Saturday morning.

A three-member poachers' gang sneaked into the park's Agaratoli forest range on Friday late evening. Park officials said they had intelligence inputs about the gang's and promptly sent a team forest guards.

Kaziranga divisional forest officer Suvashish Das said that the guards came face to face with the poachers near Sohola water body under Agaratoli at around 12.30 am.

"The poachers opened fire upon the forest team. Our personnel also retaliated. One poacher who got injured during the exchange of fire, later succumbed," Das said.

The two other poachers however, managed to escape. One .303 rifle and live ammunition were recovered from the spot.

Kaziranga, a World Heritage Site on the southern bank of Brahmaputra, has lost eight rhinos to poachers this year so far.

Das said that four poachers have also been killed in encounter with forest official, including the latest one this year. At least 17 poachers also arrested.

Also three park personnel - a grass cutter and two home guards were arrested earlier this month in connection with hiding a rhino carcass poached last year.

The park spread over 430 square kilometer has 2000-odd rhinos. Kaziranga has been bearing the brunt of poaching because of soaring demand for rhino horn in the international grey market for wildlife part. The horns are smuggled through porous international border Northeast states share with Myanmar for markets in China and Vietnam where the body part is used in traditional medicines.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)'s rhino task force last year had categorically said that rhino poaching has become an organized crime involving national and international gangs.

(Source: Times of India)