Dhemaji: Poachers killed an adult female rhino, which had strayed from Kaziranga National Park, in the early hours of Sunday and took away its horn.

Divisional forest officer of the national park Rohini Ballav Saikia said villagers found the carcass of the female rhino in the morning with its horn missing at Lohore Chapori, about 25km from Kaziranga, in Majuli district and informed forest officials.

Stating the rhino was killed around midnight by poachers taking advantage of heavy rain, Saikia said they recovered nine rounds of empty cartridges of .303 rifles from the spot.

The rhino entered Majuli after walking over the sandbar of the Brahmaputra after it had strayed from the Agaratoli range of Kaziranga on February 22, Saikia said.

He said a joint team of forest officials and police have launched a search for the poachers.

This is the third rhino killed by poachers since January.

The first rhino was killed at Daflang camp area of the Bagori range of the park on January 14 but the poachers could not take away its horn. The second one was killed at Polokata Tapu near Sitamari under Lahorijan forest camp on February 11.

Khumtai BJP legislator Mrinal Saikia said the apathy of the forest department was behind the recent incidents. He told reporters in Kaziranga on Sunday that forest department officials are busy collecting money from sand and stone quarry owners, owing to which poachers are having a free rein to rhinos. He warned of action against forest officers found negligent of duty. He appealed to officials to keep a check on security of animals grazing outside the park.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had visited the area in November last year and appealed to the youths to work for the safety and security of the rhinos.