Nilagiri: Five forest officials were injured as a large group of armed poachers attacked them Thursday morning. This, after the numerically weak team tried to confront the gang at the Kuldiha sanctuary under Nilagiri forest division in Balasore district.
The condition of one of the five was stated critical. He was rushed to the Balasore district hospital.
According to sources, around 80 men had been to the sanctuary for poaching wild animals. Acting on a tip-off, the five personnel reached the spot for a raid. They were unaware poachers were one too many. Being numerically strong, the poachers overpowered the five officials and beat them up. Then, the gang escaped into the woods.
“When our officials reached the spot, the miscreants attacked them. Five officials have been injured. While one of them had his wrist broken, another has received head injuries,” said Balasore divisional forest officer (DFO) Biswaraj Panda.
The attack has come as a major embarrassment to the forest department. “To prevent recurrence of such incidents, at least one squad of the armed police force should be deployed along with the forest staff. We will arrest the miscreants. I have spoken to Balasore SP for a team of armed police,” Panda said.