Angry villagers attack forest guards after tiger kills two in PTR

THE FOREST DEPARTMENT HAS DECIDED TO LODGE A POLICE COMPLAINT AGAINST UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS

LUCKNOW: Day after two villagers were killed in a tiger attack in Deoria range of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, enraged villagers on Tuesday attacked some forest guards who were there in search of big cats.

Two forest guards were injured in the attack. The forest department has decided to lodge a police complaint against unidentified persons regarding the attack. “A team of forest guards conducting combing operations in the area were attacked by some miscreants. Our personnel escaped the attack with minor injuries,” said deputy director of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) Naveen Khandelwal.

According to locals the incident occurred at around 8 am in the morning when the forest guards asked a group of men standing on the edge of the forest to vacate the area. “There were around a dozen men who hurled abuses towards the guards and tried to manhandle them. They got into the skirmish when more forest guards reached the spot,” said a local resident

The incident took place hardly a kilometre away from the spot where two people were killed in a man-tiger conflict late on Sunday night. Another man who was travelling with the duo climbed on a tree and spent his night perched on the tree to avoid being killed by the big cat.

After the bodies were recovered on Monday, forest department has set up motion sensor cameras in the area to identify and track the predator. Combing operation in buffer zone is also being conducted. As per forest officials, an adult female tiger, which was seen in the area with her cubs, was behind the attack. Forest officials believe that the big cat has moved towards the buffer zone after the attack.

The forest department along with the local administration is also planning to launch awareness campaign in nearby villages to mitigate possibility of man-tiger conflict.