The poacher attacked cops with a machete, forcing the officials to fire at him in self-defence.
A poacher was killed in an encounter with the police in Assam's Chirang district on Sunday.
Three poachers, including the one who was killed, were arrested from the Manas National Park on the India-Bhutan border in a joint operation by the Forest Department and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB).
According to the police, when they were searching the area for guns, one of the poachers, identified as Noweswar Basumatary, attacked the cops with a machete, forcing the officials to fire at him in self-defence.
"Yesterday, we arrested Noweswar Basumatary and two other rhino poachers. After interrogation, Noweswar Basumatary revealed that he had hidden some guns inside Manas National Park. A team of police and forest officials went to search for the guns, which were used to kill rhinos. Noweswar Basumatary suddenly attacked a police officer with a dao (machete), which was kept in front of a tree. In self-defense, the police team fired at him, and he sustained a bullet injury. He was later pronounced dead by doctors," the police said in a statement.
In April this year, a group of seven rhino poachers set up camp in Manas National Park. They stayed in the park for six days, killing a rhino and selling its horn, the police said. Five out of the seven poachers have been arrested, the police said.
Assam, home to the Kaziranga National Park, has long been a target of poachers seeking to profit from the illegal trade of rhinoceros horns.