Jorhat, Jan. 21: The Golaghat forest division has increased manpower in two of its forest camps and intensifed round-the-clock patrolling on the northeastern fringe of Kaziranga National Park along the Brahmaputra to check poaching.

The move comes in wake of the forest department’s observation that poachers come from the northern side of the river on boats to kill wild animals, particularly rhinos, which in recent times have been straying into villages in the area along the river.

The department has also engaged two local NGOs, Rhino Jagaran Mancha and Pragati, to create awareness in the 50-odd villages in the area to keep an eye on wild animals that stray out of the park and also on poachers.

In the first week of this month, an adult rhino had strayed out of the park and was wandering in areas between Mohuramukh and Bonkuwal when it attracted a group of poachers.

But information from local people on the movement of the hunters helped the forest staff to prevent them from killing the animal and it was chased back into the park.

The Golaghat divisional forest officer, Rajen Choudhary, told this corerspondent that the department had deployed more staff at the Bonkuwal and Latlongia camps, about 30km northeast of Kaziranga.

Choudhary said about 20 armed personnel under the command of a beat officer were carrying out round-the-clock patrolling on foot, in vehicles and by boats.

He said the department had been trying to discourage villagers from helping poachers in killing rhinos and big cats that often come out from the park in winter.

Choudhary said the two NGOs had been holding awareness meetings in the areas and informing the villagers about the penalties of killing wild animals and helping poachers.

He said the two persons arrested on Wednesday by a joint police and forest team from Kanaighat in Golaghat district for possessing leopard bones had been sent to three-day police custody by a Golaghat court yesterday.