Six people from Surkhet had entered Bardiya National Park to hunt poaching. The body of one was found, while the police estimate that five had fled to India.
We use Google Cloud Translation Services. Google requires we provide the following disclaimer relating to use of this service:
This service may contain translations powered by Google. Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.
The body of one of the six uncontacted people from Surkhet who had gone hunting in the Bardiya National Park since Falgun 23 was found on Chaitra 9. The body of 33-year-old Top Bahadur Khatri of Barahatal Rural Municipality-2 was found near the Jhyakre Pani River in the Ratamate area of the Babai Valley of the park.
A loaded gun was found near Khatri's body, said SP Sudhir Raj Shahi of the District Police Office, Surkhet. The police suspect that the other five people who went with him fled towards India via the Bardiya route.
The poachers were identified as Resham Samseli, 25, of Barahtala-1, Surkhet, Ravilal Damai, 41, Ram Bahadur Gharti, 34, Sunil Samseli, 30, Durga Bahadur Sijali, 45, of Lekbeshi Municipality-8, and Top Bahadur Khatri, Superintendent of Police Shahi said.
He said that the police investigation has revealed that they have been accused of poaching for the past few years. Khatri's death is estimated to have occurred 13 days ago.
Surkhet is located in the buffer zone connected to Bardiya National Park. It is initially estimated that he died due to a bullet fired by the park's information officer Sarojmani Poudel at a wild animal or due to a fight,' he said. 'As the police are investigating, we cannot say anything right now.'
Doctor Sagar Pant of the District Hospital said that nothing was found in the post-mortem report as the body was decomposed. ‘The head and lower part of the body were severed,’ he said, ‘the cause of death could not be determined by postmortem.’
There are posts of the Nepali Army and the park in the Bansapani area of the Babai Valley. During the election, most of the security forces and employees were deployed at the polling stations, so the poachers had taken advantage of the opportunity to enter the forest. The police say that they crossed 17 km from the park border with homemade weapons to settle down and hunt.
The police are coordinating with Indian authorities to arrest the absconding poachers. Wild animals like tigers, rhinos, chitals, and wild boars are found in the Babai Valley.
During the armed conflict, the Nepali Army posts were transferred elsewhere. At that time, poachers were in trouble in the absence of security forces.
The Babai Valley is a remote place with dense forests, rivers, and the Babai River. Although there was a place for poachers to enter secretly, the decrease has decreased after the establishment of the army post. In the past, the buffer zones of Taranga, Lekhparajul, Hariharpur and Chhinchu in Surkhet, which are connected to the park, were known for poaching.
During the conflict, 34 rhinos were killed by poachers from this area. About a decade ago, a tiger named Namo Buddha was killed by poachers in the Babai Valley. Two people from Surkhet accused of killing the tiger were arrested.
Since 2065 BS, when poaching began to increase, the park administration had urged the residents of the Surkhet buffer zone to surrender illegal weapons.
After saying that action would be taken against those who did not surrender their weapons, the park records show that 202 illegal guns were surrendered from this area. Conservationists from Surkhet and Bardiya succeeded in surrendering the illegal weapons after much effort.
The park administration estimates that there are still some illegal weapons in the central area of Surkhet. According to the park's records, more than a dozen illegal guns were found hidden in caves in the Babai Valley at that time.
