Morigaon: A bike rider died after being attacked by a rhino near Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary on Sunday, officials said. The deceased person was identified as Saddam Hussain (37), a resident of the Sonapur Kachutali area of the Kamrup (Metro) district.
According to the reports, the rhino came out of the wildlife sanctuary and attacked the biker near Haduk Bridge near the sanctuary while he was travelling from Mayong to the Chamata area on his motorcycle.
Nayan Jyoti Das, Forest Range Officer of Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, told ANI over a phone call that the deceased had died after an attack by the rhino.
"The rhino came out of the wildlife sanctuary. We are investigating the incident," the forest official said.
Further investigation is underway. Man-animal conflict is on the rise across India. On September 27, four people were injured in animal attacks including three children in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh.
This includes a minor girl and a man who were attacked by a leopard near Katarniaghat, while the other two incidents, suspected to be wolf attacks, were reported in the Bahraich forest division.
Katarniaghat Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Shiv Shankar confirmed the leopard attack. "Two persons, including a 13-year-old girl, Sahiba from Ayodhya Purwa, and 35-year-old Madhusudan from Harkapur, were injured in the incident," he said.
Speaking to ANI, Sahiba's mother, Sabina Khatoon, said, "At 11.30 pm, it started raining, so we went to sleep in our room. At that time, the child was outside. We heard some noises, so we rushed out and saw a leopard pouncing from the roof and attacking her. We started shouting. The animal had caught the child and was about to flee by climbing the wall adjacent to our house. However, as it was trying to escape, the girl fell down. The animal roamed on the roof for a bit and then jumped away."
