In a first, forest guard killed by poachers inside Odisha’s Similipal reserve

“Ten suspects have been identified, and police arrested two of them early (Tuesday) morning and recovered a country-made pistol from them. Efforts are on to arrest the others,” principal chief conservator of forest, wildlife, S K Popli said.

Forest guard Bimal Jena (40) was killed by poachers while patrolling Similipal Tiger Reserve, Monday evening. (Photo/Twitter/Susanta Nanda, IFS, Odisha)

According to officials, the incident took place around 7.30 pm Monday when Bimal, along with other guards, was on regular patrolling. “The team found a group of people carrying a barking deer, which was alive. When the forest guards tried to nab them, they opened fire without any provocation,” Popli said.

Shot on his chest, Jena was taken to Baripada Hospital around 10.15 pm, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, Popli said. He said there was no exchange of fire since the patrolling party did not have firearms.

Stating that he spoke with the Director General of Police, Popli said a search operation was launched immediately after the incident, considering the fact that the poachers were inside the reserve forest.

The state government will sanction an ex-gratia amount to family members of the deceased and extend other benefits in accordance with the provisions, officials said.

Spread over 2,700 sq km, Similipal National Park is the only home of melanistic Royal Bengal Tigers — rare tigers with distinctive dark stripe patterns with a gene mutation, which are only found in the region. Similipal has the highest rate of black tiger sightings in the world, according to reports.

Besides Royal Bengal Tigers, the sanctuary is home to more than 1,250 species of flowering plants, 99 species of non-flowering plants, 21 species of amphibians, 62 species of reptiles, 361 species of birds, 55 species of mammals and many species of flora and fauna still to be identified, according to the sanctuary website.