STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: With a view to combating poachers more effectively, 30 jawans of the Special Rhino Protection Force of the state are being imparted a week-long training in use of Ghaatak rifles at the campus of the 2nd Assam Forest Protection Force at Sekoni in the Nagaon district.
The indigenously-made Ghaatak rifles use 7.62x39 mm ammunition and are considered ideal for counter-insurgency and counter-poaching operations.
The jawans in question have been selected from among personnel posted in various national parks and wildlife sanctuaries of the state.
According to the Commandant of the 2nd Assam Forest Protection Force, Mukul Saikia, it has been observed that poachers are using sophisticated weapons like AK series rifles to carry out poaching operations in various national parks and wildlife sanctuaries of the state. As such, it has become necessary for the armed forest personnel to be equally well-equipped to foil the poachers.
Saikia said that the .303 rifles and SLRs of the forest personnel are being phased out gradually and replaced with Ghaatak and other sophisticated weapons. The ongoing training programme has been organized to familiarize the jawans with the new weapons and thereby boost their self-confidence. The new weapons and the requisite training in their use will enable the forest personnel to combat the well-organized poachers on equal terms, the Commandant said. It may be mentioned that rhino poaching has witnessed a decline in the state in the last four years. While seven rhinos were killed by poachers in 2018, the number decreased to three in 2019, two in 2020 and one in 2021.
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