Poachers attack foresters, 2 held

Nagpur: Forest staff of Navegaon National Park in Gondia district confronted a gang of 12 poachers sneaking into the park to hunt wild animals late on Saturday night.
Assistant conservator of forests (ACF) Geeta Pawar said the incident took place at 10pm, when two group of foresters had laid a trap for teakwood smugglers. However, foresters saw a group of poachers equipped with axes and sharp weapons sneaking into the park.When they were stopped by the staff, the poachers attacked them with axes.
“In the scuffle, two forest guards — Deepak Navghare (50) and Parshuram Joshi (49) — were injured. The staff caught hold of two accused — Purshottam Kohle and Bhojraj Madavi of Wangi village on the outskirts of the park. The others ran away under the cover of darkness,” said Pawar.
The accused admitted that they were entering the park in search of killing herbivores for meat. The accused were produced before judicial magistrate first class (JMFC), Gondia, who granted forest custody remand (FCR) to the accused till April 2.