Baripada: A 40-year-old forest guard was shot dead allegedly by poachers at the Similipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, police said Tuesday.
Bimal Kumar Jena along with five other forest guards was on patrol duty Monday evening when they came across over 30 poachers near Baunsakhal in Similipal South range while they were carrying the carcass of a barking deer after killing it, police said.
As the forest guards started chasing them and seized the carcass, they started firing. Jena was shot in the chest.
He was taken to the PRM Medical College and Hospital in Baripada where doctors declared him dead, police said.
Following the incident, a search operation was started in the forest area, said Similipal Tiger Reserve’s field director Prakash Chand Gogineni.
The poachers who killed the forest guard were locals, and were hunting in the forest regularly, he said.
They often engage in confrontation with forest officials, he said.
“This is the first time that a forest guard was shot by poachers in Similipal. They are still hiding in the forest,” another official said.
A murder case was registered at the Bangriposhi police station in connection with the incident, he said.
After the post-mortem examination, Jena’s body was taken to the Saheed Post near Salbani forest bungalow where forest personnel paid their last respects to him.
PTI