Police have claimed to have arrested Raj Kumar Praja, 32, a notorious rhino poacher, who was on the run since 2013 after the government sentenced him to 15 years in jail for killing 15 rhino
Police have claimed to have arrested Raj Kumar Praja, 32, a notorious rhino poacher, who was on the run since 2013 after the government sentenced him to 15 years in jail for killing 15 rhinos.
Requested by Nepal Police, the INTERPOL in 2013 had issued Red Notice, or an international wanted person’s alert that is sent to police forces around the world, for his involvement in rhino killing and international wildlife trade. The INTERPOL team in support from the Central Bureau of Investigation arrested the fugitive smuggler from Malaysia on Friday. However, police said that they were yet to confirm the identity as the arrestee has been claiming that he is not Praja.
Confirming the arrest on Saturday, Deputy Inspector General of Police Hemanta Malla Thakuri said that the INTERPOL team arrested a man resembling Praja in Malaysia. INTERPOL had released the related pictures of Praja in the Red Notice. “However, we will be able to confirm the arrest only by Sunday as a police team is visiting Malaysia for further investigation,” he said.
Nepal has already celebrated zero poaching year in 2011 and 2014 respectively, which denotes that not a single rhino was killed by poachers in the given years. That was possible due to collaboration between the government and other
conservation partners against dismantling the network of poachers.
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