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Four poachers who recently murdered a female rhino in Orang National Park have been apprehended by authorities.

Successful raids on Beesimari and Rongagora villages along the Brahmaputra River led police and forest authorities to four men believed responsible for killing a female rhino in Orang National Park.

The murderers are believed to be Bangaldeshis, who a police official said via the Telegraph have settled illegally in the area.

The nationality of a large number of people who had settled in these chaporis is doubtful. If we conduct a proper survey many would turn out to be illegal migrants, who have crossed over the border only recently.

While forest officials originally thought the poachers had taken refuge within the park, the men had escaped into the surrounding area.

Police sources said the numerous chaporis (sandbars) along the Brahmaputra have turned into breeding grounds for poachers.

The poachers – Md Abdul Rashid, Gulam Osmani, Md Giasuddin and Md Ayub Ali – are scheduled to appear in court tomorrow.

One of the men had been previously arrested for poaching.

Abdul Rashid had surrendered nearly five years back but the fact that the rifle was recovered from his possession confirmed that he was still involved in poaching.

Authorities recovered the .303 rifle used to kill the rhino, along with six live cartridges.

This article is an update to a previous post Rhino Killed in Orang National Park, Forest Guards Close in on Poachers.

Image: flickr.com/draconianrain/ / CC BY 2.0

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of Saving Rhinos LLC, which publishes news and information about the global rhino crisis. Besides writing Rhino Horn is Not Medicine, I am the author of the book Murder, Myths & Medicine, the Editor of Project Pangolin, and a writer for the environmental news blog Planetsave. When I'm not blogging about the illegal wildlife trade, I like to rock out to live music.

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