On mission to spot tiger, forest guards suffocate to death

Two Bengal forest department staff died of suffocation inside a special vehicle while on a mission to spot a tiger that has spread panic among villagers in West Midnapore district for more than a week. The incident happened early on Tuesday. The area is not far from Jharkhand.

The vehicle is named Airavata. It is fitted with powerful lights, loudspeakers, and sirens used to drive away herds of wild elephants travelling between Jharkhand and Bengal. A small generator inside the vehicle powers lights and equipment.

While people on board are supposed to keep windows open when the generator is on, Damodar Murmu, 37, and Amal Chakraborty, 28, kept them closed. The two were found senseless when members of the local Forest Protection Committee broke open the door of the vehicle. Both were declared brought dead at a local hospital.

Murmu’s son, Biswapratap, is appearing for the secondary board exams that started on Monday. “All of us were trained to keep the windows open while the generator is running. It seems fear of the tiger prompted them to ignore the instruction. What we cannot understand is why they did not leave the windows partially open so that smoke from the generator could escape,” said Dulal Khapri, a forest guard on duty with another team deployed in the same area.

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