Guwahati: The dreaded rhino poacher Asmat Ali alias Nalco who was caught from Kerala recently escaped from police custody in Biswanath, Assam.
As per reports, the rhino poacher after escaping from the custody jumped into the River Brahmaputra.
He was declared an absconder by the Assam government and a reward of Rs 5 lakh was announced for his capture as he was involved in large scale poaching of one-horned rhino which is primarily found in the State.
Later, the Kerala Police nabbed Ali from Malappuram district, where he stayed with migrant workers from northeastern states and was handed over to the Assam Police on February 16.
The poacher accused of poaching the one horned rhinoceros listed as vulnerable in IUCN’s Red List of threatened species.
A senior police officer said that the accused went to Kerala as he was involved in several poaching cases in the state and the police was actively looking for him.
Earlier on February 2, the Additional DGP (law and order), Assam GP Singh announced a rewards of Rs. 5 lakhs who will give information leading to the recovery of the poached rhino horn.
ADGP GP Singh has released photographs of three suspected poachers announcing the rewards. He said that the three poachers are in the most wanted list.
The wanted persons have been named as Abdul Matin, Ataur Rahman and Asmat Ali.
All the wanted persons are residents of Biswanath district.
A police source informed that they have been identified to be behind the recent rhino killing that took place in Kohora range of Kaziranga.
