Guwahati, May 10 (IANS) Alert security personnel in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) have arrested three alleged poachers and recovered arms and ammunition, officials said on Sunday.

KNPTR Director Sonali Ghosh said that acting on specific intelligence inputs, teams from the Eastern Range, Gamiri, and the Crime Investigation Range of the Biswanath Wildlife Division of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve apprehended three persons in connection with earlier wildlife-related offences at Narayanpur in Lakhimpur district.

According to officials, the accused were allegedly planning rhino poaching activities inside the sixth addition area of Kaziranga National Park. During the operation, forest personnel recovered and seized a country-made rifle bolt and butt, without a magazine, from Ukhal Chuk in Majuli district.

Earlier, in March 2026, forest officials had also recovered a .303 rifle along with 13 rounds of ammunition from the Gopaljarani area, located close to the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.

The arrested persons were identified as Kiran Pegu, Riju Pegu alias Rijukanta, and Pulen Kaman. They are residents of three different districts — Majuli, Lakhimpur, and Biswanath.

The KNPTR authorities have undertaken a series of measures in recent years to strengthen anti-poaching operations and enhance wildlife protection inside the national park and tiger reserve.

Known as ‘Van Durga’, the women frontline forest personnel of KNPTR have been playing a crucial role in safeguarding the biodiversity and wildlife of the reserve, which is recognised as India’s seventh UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Earlier, several suspected poachers were killed in separate encounters with forest guards inside the KNPTR during anti-poaching operations.

Over the years, due to sustained action and increased vigilance by KNPTR authorities, incidents of poaching in the national park have declined sharply.

The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve is globally renowned for its ‘Big Five’ wildlife species — the greater one-horned rhinoceros, Bengal tiger, Asian elephant, wild buffalo, and eastern swamp deer.

Spread across the districts of Golaghat, Nagaon, Sonitpur, and Biswanath, the protected area comprises three forest divisions — Eastern Assam Wildlife Division (Bokakhat), Biswanath Wildlife Division (Biswanath Chariali), and Nagaon Wildlife Division (Nagaon).

–IANS

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