[Assam] cbi probe

[Nava Thakuria]

Assam to have CBI probe against rhino poaching

Guwahati, Sat, 3 May 2008 NI Wire 
 

Finally with intense public pressure and demands from various quarters including appeal from several NGOs and the All Assam Students Union (AASU), the state administration has finally asked the Central Bureau of Investigation CBI to probe into the rhino poaching.



The influential organisations like All Assam Students Union, Nature's Beckon, Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters, Journalists Forum, Assam with many others had been raising voices for a CBI probe into the slaughtering of endangered rhinos in various national parks of Assam for quite a long time. 

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In the wake of continuous poaching of rhinos in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and the Rajiv Gandhi wildlife sanctuary in Orang, the government has decided to carry out a CBI probe on the illegal killings of at least 27 rhinos since January 2007. 



Reportedly the government had earlier transferred the Kaziranga Divisional Forest Officer and formed a committee to find out the reasons behind the spurt in rhino poaching in three of the rhino habitat regions: Kaziranga, Orang and Pabitora game sanctuary. The committee is due to submit a report for effective measures to combat poaching. 



The continued poaching of most endangered one-horned rhino has been a major public concern drawing a nexus between illegal poachers and Forest Department authorities in those sanctuaries. 



Blaming the administration for not doing enough to combat illegal rhino killings, AASU, the state’s largest student organisation, has launched a campaign to create awareness against rhino poaching. 



Earlier on April 28, two rhinos including a calf were killed by organised poacher gangs; unremitting poaching has so far jeopardised conservation effort of this endangered wildlife.