A 29-year-old man was found dead inside Raimona National Park in Assam’s Kokrajhar district on Tuesday, with his family alleging that he was shot by forest guards.
The deceased has been identified as Phunkha Basumatary (29), son of Nimal Basumatary and a resident of 2 No. Moinaguri village.
According to family members, Basumatary had been missing since around 3 pm on July 28 after he reportedly entered the forest to collect firewood. They alleged that he was intercepted by personnel from the Athiyabari Forest Outpost, who opened fire on him.
His body was recovered on July 29 from a forested area west of Saralpara Picnic Spot within the Raimona forest area under the Kachugaon Forest Division, along the India-Bhutan international border.
The Forest Department had not issued an official statement on the incident at the time of filing this report.