Forest Dept Personnel And Police Apprehend Person Allegedly Connected With Rhino Poaching

GUWAHATI: Personnel of the Forest department along with those of the Crime branch of Guwahati Police on Wednesday night apprehended a person allegedly connected with several rhinoceros poaching cases. He was arrested from a from a guest house in the Hatigaon area here.

The person identified as Toyikhu Zhimomi alias Master is reportedly the kingpin of a racket involved in supplying arms and sharp shooters for rhino poaching in Kaziranga National Park (KNP). He is also a trader of rhino horns, stated police, adding that Zhimomi operates from Dimapur in Nagaland to Churachandpur in Manipur.

Sources further informed that during preliminary investigation it was revealed that the arrested person has already traded in more than 10 rhino horns since 2014. Zhimomi was wanted in a number of cases involving rhino poaching in KNP.

The person has been taken to KNP for further investigation, informed sources.

Rhinoceros poaching in Assam is the major issue in India, which is still continued in the region. Assam has 2600 rhinoceros, of which 2,400 are in the Kaziranga National Park (KNP). Poachers from Nagaland and Manipur, who use different kind assault rifles (AK 47, AK 56, etc). From 1980 to 1997, a total of 530 rhinos were poached, averaging nearly 30 rhinos per year. The highest poaching in a year was 48 rhinos were reported in the year 1992, when its population was 1,100. In the years 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, rhino poaching cases were 27, 27, 17 and 18 respectively. Six rhinos were poached till November 2017. The markets for rhino horn are in China and Taiwan. Rhino population in the Park was 940 in 1980, grew to 1,300 in 1997 and was 2,400 as per the latest census in 2015.

Some other Protected Areas (PAs) in Assam also have rhino populations, equally vulnerable as at KNP for poaching.

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