Assam: Police announce reward to nab rhino poachers in Kaziranga

Police in Central Assam's Nagaon district on Friday announced a cash reward of Rs five lakh for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of the poachers who had killed a one-horned rhino in Kaziranga National Park (KNP) on March 26.

Police on Friday said the reward has been announced as part of their efforts to nab those who had killed the prized rhino. "Identity of the informant will be kept secret," said a public notice issued by Nagaon police on Friday.

Carcass of a rhino with its horn missing was found floating in a waterbody on March 26 at Bagori range in the KNP, which falls under Nagaon district.

This was the first rhino poaching incident in Kaziranga since December 2021 and there was no poaching case in the park in 2022. The state forest department and police said poachers could not kill a rhino during 2022 due to several steps taken by the park. But the incident raised questions over those arrangements.

With 2,613 rhinos, Kaziranga National Park is the biggest habitat of the famous one-horned rhinos and is a Unesco World Heritage Site. Kaziranga is also one of the biggest tourist centres in the country.