Manas tiger reserve's deputy ranger injured

GUWAHATI: A forest official was seriously injured in accidental firing today inside the Manas tiger reserve in lower Assam.

The reserve's deputy ranger Fakhruddin Ahmed was injured when a bullet from the service rifle of forest guards hit his neck at the Basbari range office.

Police said forest guard Harmuz Ali was bringing out the rifles from a locker when one of them accidentally went off hitting the ranger who was seated in the next room.

While Ali was arrested for interrogation, the forest ranger was rushed to the Barpeta Civil Hospital for treatment.

Manas tiger reserve in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) is enlisted as a world heritage site in danger after large scale damage to forest and animals during the then agitation for a separate "Bodoland" state in the early nineties.