Poacher wanted for killing rhinos, smuggling their horns held in Bengal

A poacher wanted for allegedly killing rhinos and smuggling their horns to Myanmar to sell on the international black market since 2010 has been arrested from West Bengal's Alipurduar district, a police officer said on Friday. Superintendent of Police (Alipurduar) Y Raghuvamshi said a local court had sent Leken Basumatari, the accused, to the custody of the forest department for 14 days following his arrest on Wednesday.

“The forest department conducted all the investigation that led to the arrest. The accused was involved in the killing of around 20 rhinos in West Bengal,” Raghuvamshi said. Forest department officials said Basumatari and his associates would shoot the rhinos with rifles and smuggle their horns. The gang allegedly killed rhinos in Assam's Manas National Park as well as in Bengal's Jaldapara and Gorumara.

The last rhino poaching in Bengal was reported from Jaldapara in April 2021. One of Basumatari's associates was caught earlier but managed to escape. Rhino horns are in high demand in countries such as China and Vietnam, where they are used in traditional medicine, although there is no scientific basis for this.