According to Area Forest Office, Kohalpur, they were arrested from the forest lying between Thure and Muguwa streams in the East-West Highway.
The arrested have been identified as Kamata Prasad Sonkar of Kamdi VDC-4, and Raj Bahdur Chaudhari, Sher Bahadur Khadka, Ram Prasad Sharma, Surya Bahadur Chaudhary and Chewan Poudel of Kachanapur VDC-4 in Bardiya district. [break]
A team of armed forest guards led by Devnarayan Sah had arrested them and recovered revolvers from them at about 12 a.m. Sunday.
The arrested have been kept at District Forest Office, Banke.
Locals alleged that poachers are active in smuggling timber and endangered wild species to India from the forest adjoining the highway. A 10-member team constituted by the District Forest Office was mobilized two weeks ago to check smuggling.
According to Rishi Ram Tripathi, director at Regional Forest Office, the armed forest guards have been conducting regular security patrol upto the border areas of Dang, Banke and Bardiya districts. Forests in these districts are considered most vulnerable to poaching.
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