Three poachers were arrested for allegedly killing wild animals inside Similipal forest. They were produced in the SDJM Court here on Monday and remanded in judicial custody after their bail petitions were rejected by the court.
They were arrested from Baladasahi near during patrolling in Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR). Six axes, a knife, five big nets, one Indian Giant Squirrel and two monkeys were seized from their possession. The poachers were identified as Gopi Mankadia (48), Baiya Mankadia (47) and Ram Mankadia (40) belonging to Mahulibasa village, said in-charge forest ranger Batakrushna Padhi.
It is suspected that taking advantage of the indefinite strike of forest officials to press their three-point charter of demands, the poachers entered the forest and killed the animals. Deputy Director of STR Bikash Ranjan Dash said daily wage protection assistants have been engaged to guard the forest areas.