Playing in Nagaland right now: The Kaziranga rhino horn sale mystery

GUWAHATI: A rhino horn is poking politicians in Nagaland.

An association of former lawmakers in the state is disturbed over revelations that the horn of a Kaziranga National Park rhino was sold to one of its members by an arrested businessman, Manshing Terang, from Assam’s Karbi Anglong.

Terang told the forest authorities of Assam that he had sold a broken piece of rhino horn to a former Nagaland legislator.

“The arrested individual confessed to us that he had sold a broken piece of rhino horn to a former Nagaland MLA in August,” Assistant Conservator of Forests Piraisoodan B told journalists recently.

He said Terang had also met the wife of the former Nagaland MLA. The person arrested is a contractor who is well-known for his socio-cultural activities in Karbi Anglong which adjoins the Kaziranga National Park.

The Ex-Parliamentarians’ Association of Nagaland said the non-disclosure of the buyer’s name by the Assam forest authorities had tarnished the image of Nagaland’s former legislators.

Joshua Sumi, who is the president of the Association, urged Assam’s forest authorities to end the suspense by disclosing the buyer’s name. He asserted that the Ex-Parliamentarians’ Association of Nagaland stood for the preservation of flora and fauna.

Kaziranga National Park Director P Sivakumar said they would soon reveal the name of the former Nagaland MLA.

“We know who the person is and we will reveal his name,” Sivakumar said, adding “This is a sensitive case and we are collecting all material evidence”.

The police and forest guards in Assam nabbed nearly a dozen rhino poachers over the past few weeks. Rhinos are killed for their horn, considered an aphrodisiac. A horn could fetch over Rs 1 crore in the black markets of Southeast Asian countries.

The Kaziranga National Park was declared a World Heritage Site in 1985, nine years after it was declared a national park. According to a census conducted in 2018, its rhino population is 2,413 (1,641 adults, 387 sub-adults and 385 calves).