Baripada: The forest department has arrested two armed poachers who had entered the Similipal sanctuary for hunting. The arrests were made in two separate incidents under the Podadiha Wildlife Range.
The poachers were spotted entering the sanctuary with guns and other weapons on an AI camera installed secretly inside Similipal.
Later, staff of the Similipal Wildlife Intelligence Network (SWIN) identified the poachers based on the footage captured on the AI camera and apprehended them. Two country-made guns and a large quantity of explosives were seized from their possession.
The arrested accused have been identified as Gasa Ho alias Lala (22) of Anantapur village under Udala police station and Kishun Tudu alias Suna (29) of Sanjunpal village under Kaptipada police station. Both were produced in court after their arrest and have been remanded to judicial custody after their bail pleas were rejected.
Deputy Director of Similipal South Wildlife Division, Suman Kumar Kar, said further investigation into the incident is underway.
