In a joint operation, Assam police and state forest department apprehended three tiger poachers near Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve on Wednesday.

The arrested poachers have been identified as Azibur Rahman, Hasmat Ali and Mohammad ML.

"A few days ago, a carcass of a tiger was found from the premise of arrested poacher Azibur Rahman's house,” said Pradipta Baruah, DFO of Mangaldai Wildlife Division.

"We have suspected that a 5-6 members poacher gang had killed the tiger and buried it in Bosa Simalu village near the Orang National Park. Today, we have arrested three of the poacher gang and they were produced before the court. Our operations are on to catch others of the gang," the DFO added.

On Tuesday, a decomposed body of a Royal Bengal tiger was recovered near Orang National Park in Sonitpur district.

According to reports, the carcass of the tiger was buried in an area adjacent to the boundary of the national park. Upon receiving information, forest official reached the scene and dug out the carcass.

Notably, the park has one of the highest numbers of Royal Bengal tigers in the country.

A forest official informed that someone had allegedly killed the tiger in an act of revenge and buried the body.