Kolkata: With the Forest Department unable to capture and relocate the Royal Bengal tiger spotted at Lalgarh in Jhargram district of West Bengal, the big cat attacked three villagers on Friday afternoon and evaded capture.
The injured were identified as Panda Murmu, Nandalal Soren and Sudan Soren.
While Panda and Nandalal are residents of Dharampur, Sudan hails from Dherua under the Kotwali police station.
“All three were brought to this hospital around 3.45 PM. Our doctors are treating them but the condition of Sudan Soren is serious. He received severe neck and head injuries while trying to save himself from the beast. The other two villagers received injuries in back, arms and chest,” said Dr Pabitra Mandal, Deputy Superintendent of Midnapore Medical College.
Sources say, all three villagers went inside the forest to hunt and collect wood. While walking towards a culvert, they encountered the tiger. But before they could react, the tiger attacked the villagers and fled.
The victims were taken to the hospital after they were rescued by locals.
Meanwhile, officers from the Kotwali police station and a team of 15 divisional forest officers led by District Forest Officer (DFO) Rabindranath Saha have begun a combing operation to tranquilise the tiger.
“Efforts are on to capture the Royal Bengal tiger which was spotted at Lalgarh today. We have alerted the local villagers not to venture into forest and also asked the local administration to do all that is necessary to ensure the safety of villagers,” said Binay Krishna Barman, Bengal forests minister.
A couple of weeks ago the Forest Department confirmed the presence of the adult male tiger when photographs taken by camera traps showed the animal roaming in Lalgarh forests. Lalgarh, however, is not seen as suitable habitat for tigers given its poor prey base.
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