August 12, 2025
NEW DELHI – The Assam government has arrested over 40 people, including several with suspected links to international trafficking syndicates, under the state’s year-long anti-poaching campaign ‘Operation Falcon’, officials said on Monday.
Launched in 2024 in response to a sudden surge in rhino killings, the operation targets both domestic and cross-border networks responsible for hunting the endangered one-horned rhinoceros for its horn.
The Indian one-horned rhino, found mainly in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and a few other protected areas, is a UNESCO World Heritage species and a global conservation success story — but remains vulnerable to poaching driven by demand in illicit markets.
Rhino horns, falsely believed in some parts of Asia to have medicinal or aphrodisiac properties, fetch exorbitant prices on the black market, fuelling organised crime. Trafficking routes often extend from Assam through Myanmar and onward to Southeast Asian destinations, where the horns are sold to clandestine buyers.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described the crackdown as an unprecedented joint effort between the Assam Police and the state forest department, blending “on-ground surveillance with advanced digital intelligence” to hunt down suspects.
“Operation Falcon — breaking the back of poaching and illegal animal trade,” he posted on social media, pledging that the campaign will continue until poaching is eradicated.
The arrests — spread across Biswanath, Darrang, Nagaon, Karbi Anglong, Sonitpur, Udalguri, Dibrugarh, and Cachar districts — have disrupted several interstate and international smuggling channels. Some detainees are allegedly part of larger organised crime rings with tentacles in neighbouring countries.
Assam, home to more than two-thirds of the world’s one-horned rhino population, has witnessed both highs and lows in rhino conservation.
A record drop in poaching in 2022 had raised hopes, but fresh killings in late 2023 and early 2024 prompted the government to launch Operation Falcon as a zero-tolerance measure.
Authorities believe the coordinated crackdown will have a lasting deterrent effect. “We are committed to ensuring that Assam remains a safe haven for the rhino,” the chief minister said.