SILCHAR, July 29 -- A suspected timber poacher was shot dead in a gunfight with forest guards in Assam's Raimona National Park on Tuesday afternoon, officials said on Wednesday.

A group of angry villagers later vandalised a forest office over the incident.

According to Kokrajhar divisional forest officer (DFO) Mustafa Ali Ahmed, the incident took place around 4pm on Tuesday in the Athiabari range of the national park, when a forest patrol team spotted four to five people allegedly felling large trees deep inside the protected forest.

Ahmed said when the forest personnel approached the group, they opened fire. The guards retaliated, prompting the group to flee from the area. The forest team later recovered a body from the spot.

Kokrajh...