Guwahati, Mar 24 : Forest officials found a bullet ridden body of one-horned rhinoceros with its horn removed in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam on Saturday. .
A patrolling party found the body in the wee hours of the day near Borhola forest camp under Burapahar forest range.
The adult male Rhino lay in the blood smeared grass as forest officials collected shells of bullets of AK-47 and .303 rifles, rubber gloves and machetes that were used to slay the animal.
According to local media this is the second incident of rhino killing reported from the national park in the past 24 hours.
Assam's Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain said that additional forces of security personnel had been deployed in the national park to keep check on poachers.
“As per the Wildlife Protection Act of1972 rhino killing was initially a bailable offence but Assam became the first state to call for an amendment in thelaw, took consent of the President and converted it into a non-bailable offence. Also we got the punishment changed to life term for people who commit the offence a second time,” said Hussain.
Recently, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi called for a CBI probe into rhino killing incidents in Kaziranga.
Two-thirds of the world's famed one-horned rhinoceroses live inside Kaziranga National Park.
Rhinos are killed for trading its horn, which costs between Rs 40 lakhs to Rs 90 lakhs in the international market.
