New Delhi: The pandemic and nationwide lockdown hasn’t stopped poachers in Assam. Officials at the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) reported its first rhino poaching incident after a year, when the carcass of an adult male rhino was found with its horn missing last week.
Lost one rhino due to poaching after an interval for 13 months. Investigation is on.
— Kaziranga National Park & Tiger Reserve (@kaziranga_) May 11, 2020
P. Sivakumar, director of KNP, said, “The last poaching case was reported on 1 April 2019, in Gohpur side of Biswanath division.”
Eight empty shells of an AK-47 rifle were recovered near the carcass. Park officials also said this is the first case of an AK-47 rifle being used at KNP to kill rhinos.
“This is the first case of use of AK-47 rifles to kill rhino in the Agaratoli range of the park. Only trained groups who know how to handle such arms can indulge in such kind of poaching,” Sivakumar said.
While the park itself is closed for tourists, Kaziranga officials have been put on high alert on account of the African Swine Fever, which has so far killed more than 14,000 pigs in the state.
Meghalaya launches economic survey to aid Covid-affected entrepreneurs
To come up with suitable policies for businesspeople, entrepreneurs and self-employed individuals who have been affected by the Covid-19 lockdown, the Meghalaya government has launched its own economic survey. State cabinet minister James Sangma took to Twitter to announce the new survey.
The Meghalaya Economic Survey 2020 will gather information on business disruptions across the state due to the pandemic. The state government has urged its business community to register for this survey. Online registration will end on 23 May.
Full-time farmers and students, daily or weekly wage earners and all salaried employees have, however, been asked to not register for the online survey.
Video of Assam girl selling vegetables on bicycle goes viral, police gifts her a moped
Janmoni Gogoi, a 20-year-old woman from Assam’s Dibrugarh, had been pedaling her way into villages to sell vegetables when the Covid-19 lockdown banned daily business in village markets. Videos of her riding through village roads on a bicycle to sell vegetables went viral on social media, after which the Dibrugarh Police extended its help to the young entrepreneur.
Dibrugarh superintendent of police Sreejith. T said that Gogoi initially “refused to accept money”. So on Monday, the officers decided to gift her a moped to help her.
Gogoi had dropped out of Class 12 to help her mother sell vegetables. Her father has been ill and is immobile.
Janmoni Gogo sells vegetables on a bicylcle to fend for her family. Inspired by her self respect & guided by our visionary @DGPAssamPolice Sir's direction to transform ourselves from police force to facilitators of economy, DYSP HQ gifted the little entrepreneur a moped / bike pic.twitter.com/kncyhRQEr9
— Dibrugarh Police (@dibrugarhpolice) May 11, 2020
Great initiative by @assampolice under the inspiring leadership of @DGPAssamPolice BJ Mahanta sir, presenting a moped to a young #entrepreneur Janmoni Gogoi who sells vegetables on bicycle to feed her family. #Kudos to the humane centric approach of Assam Police.#Assam pic.twitter.com/8lLwecEjQm
— Padmapani Bora,IRS (@padmapanibora) May 11, 2020
Manipuri girl attacked in Gurugram, GRP cop assaults Nagaland journalist
A 19-year-old girl from Manipur was allegedly racially attacked by a group of men and women earlier this week in Gurugram’s Sector 72.
The incident took place Sunday when one of the accused women in Fazlipur Jharsa in Gurugram allegedly asked the girl not to pass through the street in front of her house. When the girl objected, she was reportedly beaten up by the woman’s family members, which included several men.
The girl was rescued by members of the Northeast Support Centre and Helpline. An FIR has been registered under IPC sections 323, 34, 341 and sections of the SC/ST Atrocities Act at the Badshahpur police station, Gurugram.
In another incident, a journalist with a Dimapur-based newspaper was assaulted by a government railway police (GRP) official, who later offered an “unconditional apology”.
The incident took place last week when journalist Prasenjit Dutta asked a GRP officer for information on which platform to go to. The officer on duty, however, slapped him six times in a fit of rage. Dutta was also asked if he was a Muslim.
“I told him I am a Bengali. He slapped me again and said whoever I might be, it was not my state and if I wanted to spread the virus, I should go to my own state and try it,” Dutta said.