M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Jan 13: Forest guard and trackers of Kutku range of the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) have recovered three country made guns from the local poachers who were out for poaching deer or wild boar in winter, said the Deputy Director (North division) of PTR Kumar Ashish.
“Our team of forest guard and trackers was out for the ongoing wildlife census when they confronted with a band of nearly a dozen locals, three of them armed with one each country made gun and remaining hand holding tangi, a domestic but fatality causing instrument, in the jungles of Turer and Tumera under the Kutku range on Wednesday,” Kumar Ashish said.
Kutku ranger Ganesh Prasad said that Turer and Tumera are the jungles in the contiguous area of the dreaded Burha Pahar. Locals have country made guns and try to poach deer or wild boar whenever they get a chance.
“However, this time our team of the forest guard Dipak Kumar and trackers aborted their entire plan and design. Our team was badly outnumbered by the band of the poachers who were 8 to 10 in numbers,” said the ranger.
“Anything could have happened there. The poachers could have fired at our team or could have harmed them in other ways also. Our team acted tactfully and intelligently and disarmed the three of their country’s guns and even laid hands on a few Tangis. But as the band of the poachers had a larger number of men in comparison to our team of the forest guard and trackers, they made a run and escaped their arrest,” Ganesh added.
Ganesh Prasad said the encounter between the poachers and rangers was at such a place where cellular connectivity was absent and the team was too handicapped even to call for reinforcement.
Deputy director said the poachers have been identified by the Kutku range officials and personnel will turn heat on them.
“We are asking the villagers also to help us save wild life,” Ashish said.
Sources said country made guns are a very common thing in houses located in and around the jungles. Those who hold it have their own justification for having it saying that it helps them to shoo away wildlife from straying into their houses or from damaging their standing crops in the fields.
But they are also used to poach deer, wild boar etc for feast and sale of its flesh clandestinely in the village or road side market which brings in immediate good cash for them.
Sources said flushing out of the country made guns from the houses inside or in the fringe areas of the jungles of PTR is a challenging task which PTR can’t go all about on its own.
“We would seek the help of local police to apprehend these poachers to deter poaching attempts,” said the deputy director.
