Dainik Nation News Portal
DAINIK NATION BUREAU
Two persons were killed and a boy injured by a tiger in the Ramnagar area of the Corbett tiger landscape on Thursday morning. The forest department personnel reached the site of the incident after some effort were successful in immobilising and caging the male tiger aged about five years.
As per the information received, Muradabad (Uttar Pradesh) native Ramdas and his family work as labourers in the Dabka river in the Terai area of Kumaon in Uttarakhand. On Thursday morning during a break in the quarrying activity on the riverbed, at about 8 AM Ramdas and his wife Bhagwati Devi went to the woods of Dabka in Belpadao range of Terai west forest division to collect firewood. His son Sachin and other persons had also gone along with them into the jungle. It is reported that when all the persons were coming out of the woods with collected firewood, a tiger attacked the group near the Dabka river. The big cat lifted Bhagwati Devi and carried her into the woods as the shocked persons accompanying her started to shout and raise the alarm. Instead of scaring the tiger away, the noise had the reverse effect as the tiger returned to the spot and attacked the group of persons injuring Sachin. After the incident, Ramdass called up his relatives on the mobile phone seeking their help after which his uncle Lakhpat and others reached the site armed with lathis. Banging on canisters and making noise, the people then entered the jungle to search for Bhagwati Devi. Though the persons did not find the woman, the tiger reportedly made a third attack and carried away Lakhpat with him into the woods. By this time, having received information about the incident, the forest department personnel, police and local villagers also reached the area. The forest department staff immediately barred the movement of the public in the jungle area and began searching in a systematic manner for the tiger and the two people it had taken.
The department also deployed mechanical excavators in the search operation during which the tiger attacked one of the excavators. This attack resulted in the tiger losing one of his teeth and suffering minor injury. Considering the seriousness of the situation, the department officials called a team from Nainital to immobilise the aggressive big cat. After efforts which lasted about eight hours, the department personnel were successful in the evening when the tranquiliser dart hit its mark and immobilised the tiger. The tiger was then caged and taken to Ranibagh rescue centre in Haldwani. The department’s sub divisional officer Kalam Singh Bisht informed that both the dead bodies were recovered by department staff at a distance of about 50 to 60 metres from the site of the feline attack. He further informed that the tiger had buried Lakhpat’s body in the ground and had attempted to cover the spot with fallen leaves and brush.
