Pilibhit Tiger Reserve: Poachers Kill Two Chitals, Flee with Forest Guard's Rifle

Pilibhit: Poachers killed two chitals in the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) and fled after stealing a rifle from a forest guard, police said on Saturday.

The incident occurred on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.

After receiving information from the Forest Department, PTR Deputy Director Manish Singh informed the Superintendent of Police (SP) Avinash Pandey about the incident, police said.

Pandey told reporters that the motorcycle-borne poachers killed two chitals in the Mal Range of PTR.

"After hearing gunshots, a Forest Department team carried out patrolling and found some individuals sitting on two motorcycles parked by the roadside. When the team tried to stop them, the suspects fled on their motorcycles," he said.

The forest department team also recovered chital meat from the jungle, he added.

PTR Deputy Director Singh said a poacher sitting in a tree stole a rifle from forest guard Jitendra Singh and fled.

An investigation is underway and multiple police teams from nearby stations have joined forces with the Forest Department to encircle the jungle and search for the culprits. 

Recently, two leopards were spotted in Pilibhit and Rampur districts, causing panic among the locals, officials said on Friday.

An official said that the forest department has set up cages in both districts to catch the leopards.

The leopard that came out of the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve area was seen sitting in a sugarcane field in Bilgaon village adjacent to Nagar Kotwali late in Pilibhit Thursday evening, an official said.

With PTI Inputs