Alipurduar, Feb. 8: An adult rhinoceros was found killed with the horn missing in Jaldapara National Park yesterday evening.

This is the fifth rhino to be killed by suspected poachers in Jaldapara in the past eight months. On January 24, a male rhino had fallen prey to hunters in the park.

Yesterday, the carcass of the one-horn male rhino was found in the area under the Torsha east camp beat of Jaldapara West Range.

'The horn was missing from the body. Two bullets were recovered from the carcass during post-mortem. This is a clear case of poaching," said V.K. Sood, the chief conservator of forest, wildlife (north).

The forest department has sought the help of Alipurduar police to hunt down the poachers. Akash Magharia, the superintendent of police, Alipurduar, visited the spot this morning, along with two veterinary doctors who conducted the post-mortem on the rhino body.

Magharia said the police had also brought two sniffer dogs to aid the investigation. "The bullets recovered from the carcass were fired from 303 rifle. Bengal and Assam police also use the same rifle but the bullets found in the carcass were different. Most probably, the bullets might have from other countries. I am confident that the police will be able to catch the poachers soon," said the SP.

Police sources said the first bullet had hit the rhino's right side on back and the second one pierced through the forehead.

Azam Zaidi, the principal chief conservator of forest, West Bengal, told Metro from Calcutta that the police and CID had been assigned the task of catching the hunters.

"We have decided to deploy more employees in Jaldapara. We are laying stress on building relations between the forest staff and the local people to thwart the hunting. Forest protection wouldn't be possible without the help of local people. I will send additional PCCF B.R. Sharma to Jaldapara in a couple of days and if necessary, I will also visit the park thereafter," said Zaidi.

Animesh Bose, the programme co-ordinator of the Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation, said increased cases of poaching in Jaldapara might be linked to the enhanced vigil in Kaziranga National Park in Assam. "The Assam forest department had beefed up security in Kaziranga and was on alert to catch rhino hunters. The poachers there felt insecure and might have crossed over to Jaldapara in search of rhino horns. If the Bengal foresters don't act promptly, the rhino count in Jaldapara will again come down. In 1986, there were just 14 rhinos and the count later went up to over 200 after the forest staff built a network with people living in adjacent villages and managed to get rid of hunters," said Bose.