Ground report: Inside the Odisha tiger reserve where forest officials fear poachers more than animals

Forest officials said the two murders are the first such deaths at Similipal in the past several decades. They said they cannot recall the last time poachers gunned down forest field staff inside the reserve. The killings left the forest officials, senior officers and forest guards shaken. Around 8,000 frontline forest workers, including guards, foresters and deputy rangers, across Odisha went on a symbolic protest on June 19. They resumed duty recently, after the state government said it would consider some of their demands by September 5.

“Though we came to work (from June 19 onwards), we refused to resume patrolling duties till we got assurances from the state government regarding our safety,” said Sumant.

On Jena, he said, “I saw his bloodied body. We were not friends but shared a good rapport since we bumped into each other almost every alternate day. Our camps are barely 6 km apart.”

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Following the killings of the two forest officials, the first such deaths at Similipal Tiger Reserve in the past several decades, around 8,000 frontline forest workers across the state went on a symbolic protest on June 19. They resumed duty recently, after the state government said it would consider some of their demands by September 5. (Sujit Bisoyi)

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While forest guard Bimal Jena was killed on May 22 at Baunsakhala beat under Pithabata range, his senior, forester Mathy Hansdah was gunned down on June 17 at Gamchacharan beat camp under Upper Barahakumuda range. (Left) The police seized country-made guns at Pithabata range. (Right) The Thakurmunda Police arrested 10 poachers in connection with Hansdah's murder. (Photo: Sujit Bisoyi, Mayurbhanj Police)

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The Bhajam beat camp, which is located around 6 km from Baunsakhala camp under Pithabata range where forest guard Bimal Jena was killed on May 22. Five to six persons, including a forest guard, a forester and three to four protection assistants (PAs) are deputed to one camp. They are housed in two-room houses with tin roofs. One room is dedicated to the storage of VHF (radio) equipment and solar cells, while the other is used as a living room. Solar lights (right) are the only source of light after dark. (Express Photo by Sujit Bisoyi)

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Slain forest guard Bimal Jena's wife Lipina Swain, 29, seen in a file photo. Herself a forest guard, a grieving she has resumed duty. Posted at the Balidiha beat camp earlier, she has now been deputed to the STR field directors’ office at Baripada town. (Photo: Lipina Swain)

Stating that poachers were not aggressive earlier, Sumant, a native of Udala in Mayurbhanj district, said, “When I was posted at Jenabil beat camp (located deeper inside the reserve), my seniors and I caught nearly 13 poachers. This was about three years ago. The poachers hardly retaliated, even when we asked them to kneel down.”

Sumant, who was sitting at the beat camp office, added, “The poachers are in no mood to surrender now and start firing at the drop of a hat. The situation is even more frightening after sunset. At night, we are scared to use the camp washrooms (located around 10-20 metres outside camps). We’re always scared that someone could be watching us. If they target us in the camp, we will not be able to retaliate since we do not have any firearms.”

He said that while tribals have always indulged in bushmeat hunting, they are now doing it in an organised manner for money. “They are targeting forest officials intentionally and attacking us near our camps and without any provocation,” he said.

Poachers usually hunt wild boars, barking deer, chitals, deer and other animals for bushmeat and occasionally kill elephants for their tusks, he said. A single wild boar or deer or chital usually fetches them around Rs 20,000-30,000.

A former elephant reserve, a proposed national park

Earlier an elephant reserve, the Odisha government notified specified blocks of the Similipal forest reserve as a tiger reserve in 2007. Though it is a proposed national park, STR has not been accorded the status of a national park due to the presence of human habitation in its core area. Spread over 2,750 square km, it is Asia’s second largest biosphere and the country’s only habitat in the wild that has the melanistic royal Bengal tigers. Of 2,750 square km, 1,195 sq km has been identified as the core area or critical tiger habitat area within STR. Altogether 1,265 villages are located in the reserve, over 65 villages lie in the core area. Officials claim that most poachers are from villages within STR.

In 2010, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had pegged the number of tiger numbers at Similipal at 26. The figure dipped to 16 in 2018. The reserve is home to 55 species of mammals, 361 species of birds, 62 species of reptiles, 21 species of amphibians, 38 species of fish, 164 species of butterflies and many species of insects and micro fauna.

Explaining the rise in attacks by poachers, which were extremely rare earlier, a forest official said, “The ancient practice of akhand shikaar (mass hunting) by tribal communities has turned into poaching for bushmeat. Given the demand for bushmeat, poaching is now done in an organised nature. This helps poachers get good returns. The ease of obtaining raw materials for weapons and ammunition, and indigenous expertise in making country-made guns have also contributed to the development of arms culture in peripheral settlements.”

The recent killings have turned the spotlight on a host of problems faced by park authorities — from shortage of staff to the lack of infrastructure and logistic support for the frontline forest workforce. Of 439 sanctioned posts in two divisions, Similipal north and Similipal south, and the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF), a specialised wing for tiger conservation, 192 posts are lying vacant. To address this manpower shortage, STR authorities have engaged protection assistants (PAs) from among the local youths, who work as unskilled workers. For a daily wage of Rs 250 to Rs 300, these PAs assist forest field officers in foot patrolling. Though STR authorities constituted the STPF, the personnel are neither trained properly nor armed, another a major hindrance when it comes to performing their duties properly.

STR sources added that poachers feel emboldened since forest officials lack resources, like arms, vehicles and technology to track poaching activities. Any confrontation between poachers and a patrol party — which usually comprises a forester or a forest guard and three to four PAs — will remain an unequal fight since patrol parties are equipped with just lathis, while poachers have migrated to country-made guns from bows and arrows.

In 2008, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced the setting up of a Special Striking Force (SSF) with adequate staff, comprising both police and forest personnel, vehicles, state-of-the-art weapons, drones and latest security apparatus at 50 different locations in the state for coordinated action against poachers. Fifteen years after the announcement, the SSF remains a paper tiger.

Forest guards in Odisha used firearms earlier, but after the 2008 Nayagarh Naxal attack the state government asked forest divisions in Maoists areas to surrender their firearms to the local police. Since Maoist menace was at its peak across Odisha, the government feared they would snatch arms from forest personnel. At present, forest personnel are issued firearms, mostly single or double-barrel rifles, in rare cases. The absence of training and the legal quagmire related to the use of firearms make the field staff wary of discharging their weapons. Many admitted that the weapons issued to them are “outdated”. Of the two forest murdered guards, Hansdah was issued a double-barrel rifle.

“We have been given clear instructions on when to use the firearms. If any civilian gets killed or hurt during the exchange of fire — even if it is a poacher — we have to prove that we opened fire in self-defence. We will also face the legal process. How can we use the weapon confidently then?” a forest official told The Indian Express during the symbolic protest.

Thanks to STR’s rolling terrain, which includes the Khairiburu peak and the Barehipani waterfall, forest officials like Sumant are forced to conduct patrols on foot in small groups of three to four. Though the terrain makes patrolling by vehicle impractical, almost all 16 ranges have at least one vehicle — a Mahindra Bolero.

Jena’s wife Lipina Swain, 29, believes her husband could have survived the shooting had he been admitted to the Baripada hospital, around 50 km from the camp, on time. “The incident happened around 6.30 pm but my husband was admitted to the hospital at 11.30 pm. He was declared dead on arrival. Had a vehicle been arranged immediately to rush him to the hospital, my husband would have been alive today,” said Lipina, who has a six-year-old daughter.

Jayant Dhal, a forester posted at the Bhajam beat camp, around 6 km from the Baunsakhala camp where Jena was found dead, was the first to head to the spot along with Sumant. Because all vehicles are parked at the range offices, Jayant said, there were no vehicles to get to Baunsakhala camp or rush Jena to hospital. In Jena’s case, the nearest vehicle was parked at Pitabhata range, around 20 km from Bhajam beat camp. Since the condition of roads is bad, it took Jayant and Sumant time to reach the range officer. The field staff said that at least one camp should have a vehicle so that it can be utilised in case of emergency.

“After we got to know that Jena was shot by poachers, we requested some tourists returning from STR to take us to Baunsakhala camp. When we got there, we saw Jena lying in a pool of blood near his motorcycle. He had been shot in the chest and was unconscious,” recalled Jayant.

The FIR related to Jena’s murder was lodged at Bangiriposi police station, while an FIR related to Hansdah’s killing was lodged at Thakurmunda police station.

Herself a forest guard, a grieving Lipina has resumed duty. Posted at the Balidiha beat camp earlier, she has now been deputed to the STR field directors’ office at Baripada town. “Although I received a compensation of Rs 10 lakh from the state and Rs 15 lakh from the Similipal Foundation, no amount of money can compensate me for my loss. There is a need for strong action against those involved in such crimes so that a sense of fear is created in the minds of poachers,” said Lipina at the Similipal field directors’ office, where she had come for some official work.

While patrolling on foot — rarely on motorcycles, as in Jena’s case — is the only option for the staff, they said they have to cover over 350 km each month. The staff patrol on pre-decided routes and follow a map. All field data is recorded on an app. STR authorities said they send the data to the NTCA at the end of each month.

Life in a forest camp

For foresters, life in the reserve is tough. In camps, they live inside two-room houses with tin roofs. In these houses, one room is dedicated to the storage of VHF (radio) equipment and solar cells, while the other is used as a living room. The living room has a cot, mosquito net, a mirror on the wall and some utensils, and solar lights are the only source of light after dark. Five to six persons, including a forest guard, a forester and three to four PAs are deputed to one camp. When the team leaves for patrol, a PA stays back to prepare food and to watch over the camp.

“We work 24/7 and get just four leaves a month. We have no holidays, not even on festivals,” said Surjya Kanti Behera, 33, at the Pitabhata range office.

Surjya, who has been guarding STR for the past 14 years, said her five-year-old daughter stays with her since her husband works with a private company at Baripada. The foresters, she said, have to travel to Baripada for medical emergencies. “There is hardly any facility in the jungle in case of an emergency like a snake bite or if we sustain an injury while working. Ambulances or vehicles with basic healthcare facilities should be deployed in the park,” she added.

Apart from monthly salaries, Surjya and other guards are entitled to a motorcycle allowance (Rs 350 per month), a cycle allowance (Rs 75 per month) and food allowance (Rs 325 per month). Surjya, who earns around Rs 30,000 per month, feels the salary is not on a par with the nature of the work she is engaged in, given the dangerous turn her work has taken of late.

Admitting that people from peripheral villages are indulging in poaching activities in an organised manner, Regional Chief Conservator of Forest (RCCF) and Field Director of Similipal Prakash Chand Gogineni said tapping the full tourism potential of Similipal will help create indirect employment opportunities for locals.

“Once they get employment opportunities and their economic conditions improve, they will not turn to poaching and their mindset towards the forest will also change. For that, we need to increase tourist flow to Similipal. Despite being a pristine jungle, STR has failed to attract high-end and premium tourists like Kanha and Corbett due to poor animal sightings here,” Gogineni told The Indian Express.

He said animal sightings are poor at STR since tourist routes mostly pass through the buffer zone, while most habitations and tigers are located in the core area. Gogineni said they are working on changing the tourist route at STR so that visitors can spot more animals and are also taking steps to increase the tiger population in the reserve in the next three to four years.

Jyotiranjan Senapati, range officer at Pitabhata range of Similipal, said tiger hunting is limited since their numbers are few and the reserve massive.

“If poachers hunt tigers, they will need a huge network to sell the skin, teeth and other body parts. Since it is difficult to hunt tigers, most of them indulge in poaching other animals for bushmeat. There are reports of elephant poaching within STR, but not tigers,” said Senapati

Central team’s observation

Following the murders of the forest staff, a team led by the Director General of Forests visited STR. In its report, the team raised concerns over the spate in poaching and wildlife crimes in the reserve. Though the report is yet to be made public, sources said the team has suggested the state authorities step up their intelligence network, patrolling and combing operations to check poaching.

Poor arrests in recent years in connection with wildlife-related crimes, under reporting of cases and lackadaisical investigation into such cases are some of the key reasons attributed in the report for rampant poaching within STR. With around 40 per cent of frontline posts in STR lying vacant, the team has suggested immediate deployment of staff from other divisions as a stopgap measure. It also suggested the immediate need for an area domination exercise through joint patrolling, and search and combing operations by the police and forest department to control the menace of country-made arms and ammunition.

Following a recommendation by the team, Odisha has granted immunity to forest personnel under Section 197 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) for use of firearms for self-defence while dealing with poachers and in reserve forest areas. Forest personnel in Assam and Maharashtra already enjoy this immunity.

SK Popli, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), said, “Odisha has provided protection to its forest officials, wherein no court shall take cognizance of any offence alleged to have been committed by them while acting in discharge of their official duty, except with previous sanction of the state government. Further, in case whenever firing is resorted by them, each incident will be enquired into by the executive magistrate and only if it is held in the inquiry that the use of firearm has been unwarranted, excessive and unnecessary, criminal proceedings against the said forest officials will be initiated on acceptance of such an enquiry report by the state government.”

Popli said demands of forest staff are under active consideration by the state government. These demands include filling up the 1,570 vacancies in the forest department, deployment of armed police within STR, special welfare funds for forest staff, integration of different wings of forest staff, including territorial and wildlife, and increasing the ex gratia to the next of kin from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.