A 35-year-old forest guard was shot dead by a group of poachers late on Friday night in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district, forest officials said on Saturday.

The poachers, who are adept in hunting down elephants, wild boar and deer, gunned down the forest functionary, identified as Prahlad Pradhan, near the Kai Reserve Forest during the night patrolling operation to check poaching and tree felling activities.

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Meanwhile the police have detained four suspected poachers and seized firearms from their possession. They are being interrogated, added the officials.

We are deeply shocked at the killing of Pradhan, the forest guard while performing duty in adverse circumstances. It is a challenging task to carry out patrolling in forest areas as the wildlife criminals have spread their base of late, said Sumit Kumar Kar, Divisional Forest Officer, Dhenkanal Forest Division.

The forest department is deeply concerned over the attack of this nature on forest personnel. The department in coordination with police has resolved to put the poaching syndicate members behind the bar. So far four poachers have been detained and raid are on to nab others involved in the murder of the forest guard, the DFO Kar added.