Expressing serious concern over brutal attack by poachers on unarmed forest officials, the Supreme Court on Friday asked the state governments to follow the Assam model and provide firearms and bulletproof jackets to forest guards.

Pointing out that the situation was "serious", a bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde and comprising Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, cited the example of a particular state and said that it was "extremely distressing" to see forest officials wearing slippers and armed with sticks put on duty to protect large tracts of forest land and flora and fauna.