Bagaha (Bihar): A day after shoot-at-sight order was issued to neutralize it, the man-eater tiger of Bihar has struck again killing two more persons in the early hours of Saturday. With this, the elusive big cat has claimed nine victims in the last two months.
Forest Department sources said that this time the tiger killed a woman and her son in the Balua village under Govardhana police station of Bagaha town in West Champaran district adding that the tiger killed the mother-son duo after entering their home at around 7 am on Saturday.
The development comes a day after Bihar Chief Wildlife Warden PK Gupta issued a shoot-at-sight order to eliminate the man-eater. STF has also been deployed for the task. As the tiger continues with its killing spree there has been severe discontent among locals over the issue.
The situation has become as such that the enraged villagers have vandalized several vehicles of the Forest Department forcing the staff to hide in different villages. The villagers are even afraid to step out of their homes fearing an attack by the big cat.
" This is a wild animal and not some petty criminal who can be tracked with his mobile tower location. The only way to track the tiger is to physically follow it by tracking its pug marks. But with today's incident (the tiger claiming two more victims) our staff has faced public anger and some of our vehicles have been damaged. Our staff needs to regroup," said Pradyuman Gaurav, DFO of Valmiki Tiger Reserve (Zone I). Official sources said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is expected to visit the area.
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As for the tiger taking refuge in the sugarcane field, the DFO said that it was born there three years ago and hence is repeatedly coming back to the place. He also said that earlier the tiger was attacking human victims only in areas adjacent to the forest but now it is striking in different areas which gives a clear indication that it has become an eater and hence order has been issued to eliminate it.
On Thursday night the tiger lifted 35-year-old Sanjay Mahato from the Harhiya Sareh area of Bagaha town in the district. The elusive big cat on Wednesday killed a 12-year-old girl in the Singhi village in the West Champaran district.
Despite the fact that a team of 400 forest personnel is engaged in tracking and catching the tiger, the apex predator has repeatedly dodged them. At one point it slipped out of the trap with the bait leaving Forest Officials stumped.
