Poaching bid foiled, 6 held

Keonjhar: The wildlife personnel of Keonjhar Forest Division on Saturday busted a poaching racket and arrested six elephant poachers.

Acting on an input, forest officials raided forest area near Nalapanga village under Sadar range of the division and arrested the six persons including two sharp shooters from Arunachal Pradesh.

All of them were caught red handed while laying trap with nylon ropes and preparing a trench, a method generally used to hunt elephants. The accused will be booked under various sections of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and then court forwarded.

Meanwhile, the forest department has intensified round-the-clock vigil against poaching with formation of anti-poaching squads.

An official said this was one of the biggest ever catch in the forest division. "We will ascertain if there are other persons involved in the racket after interrogation," he said.