Six poachers held with arms, wildlife items in Sundargarh

ROURKELA: Authorities of Bonai forest division arrested six suspected poachers from Jarda range in Gurundia block of Sundargarh district on Thursday morning.

Five country-made rifles, multiple bows and arrows, snares, gunpowder, pellets, two monkey hides, one barking deer skull, bunches of porcupine spines, Indian peafowl feathers and two mobile phones were seized from their possession.

Bonai divisional forest officer (DFO) Lalit Patra said the poachers were under surveillance for the past three months. Acting on intelligence reports, a team successfully intercepted them inside Jarda forest when they were planning large-scale operation with several hunting equipment.