Assam: Rhino Poaching Bid in Kaziranga Foiled as 6 Arrested with Rifle and Ammunition near Gohpur

Forest personnel of Biswanath Wildlife Division, Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve in Assam, successfully thwarted an alleged rhino poaching attempt on Sunday, recovering a firearm and ammunition brought from a neighbouring state.

Acting on precise intelligence, a joint team from Eastern Range (Gamari), Crime Investigation Range, and Panibharal Range launched an intensive operation in the fringe areas near Gohpur. The weapon was meant to target rhinos inside the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Six people have been arrested so far in the case:

- Biswarup Mili alias Dakkar Mili (Raonamukh), arrested on 30 November and remanded to three-day forest custody by the SDJM Court, Gohpur.  
- R Pegu, Birgu Pegu, Bimal Pachung, and Siva Guru Pachung – arrested and scheduled to be produced in court.  
- Dipen Pegu, an accomplice, is already in judicial custody in connection with a separate case (ER/02 of 2025) involving the illegal trade of tiger bones registered on 22 November 2025. 

Officials said seven people were part of the poaching module. The swift arrests were made possible due to strong intelligence inputs, extensive field searches, sustained interrogation, and crucial support from villagers in the area. The forest department expressed deep gratitude to the local community for their cooperation.

This operation marks the latest success in a series of anti-poaching drives, with a total of 12 arrests effected in the last 10 days alone across multiple cases.

Kaziranga Director Sonali Ghosh commended the team, stating, “The alertness and coordinated action of our frontline staff, backed by community support, have once again prevented a serious threat to our rhinos.”  

With the poaching season traditionally peaking in winter, the forest department has intensified patrolling and intelligence networks across the park.

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