Hours after three police personnel were shot dead by blackbuck poachers in a forest in the Guna district of Madhya Pradesh on the afternoon of Saturday, 14 May, one of the accused, Shehzad Khan, was killed in a police encounter.
"A second accused has been killed in a police encounter. He had fired 7-8 rounds at the police... He had been hiding near Aaron's hill," state Home Minister Narottam Mishra told reporters.
Earlier, another poacher had been shot dead by the police during the crossfire.
What Had Happened?
The incident occurred at around 2:45 am, when seven armed poachers on motorbikes were trying to flee with poached Blackbucks and peacocks in the Aron area of the Gwalior-Chambal region's district bordering Rajasthan.
Sub-Inspector Rajkumar Jataw, head constable Sant Kumar Mina, constable Neeraj Bhargav, and three other officers confronted the poachers who then opened fire at the police team, killing three officers and injuring the driver.
The body of one of the poachers was also recovered from Bidoria village, Raghogarh in Guna district. He was shot by the police personnel during the crossfire. Some suspected poachers have been detained and weapons have been reportedly confiscated from the hideouts of the accused.
The officials had received a tip-off that poachers were hunting blackbucks in the forest within the Aron police station jurisdiction in Guna district. Carcasses of several blackbucks were recovered from the forest area.
Inspector general of Gwalior Anil Sharma has been removed from the post in light of the incident.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan had called a high-level meeting at his residence on Saturday with Home Minister Narottam Mishra, Chief Secretary, Director General of Police Sudhir Saxena, the ADG, and other senior officials to discuss the incident.
The state announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 crore each to the families of the three police personnel.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)