MADIKERI: The mission to capture the man-eating tiger in South Kodagu continued for the 15th day with no success. The tiger, which has claimed the lives of three humans and numerous cattle, is still on the loose as all efforts by the forest department have been in vain so far. The failure of the department in capturing the tiger has ignited protests by villagers.
The 13U285 tiger, approximately 12 years old, is said to have migrated from the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve. Rangaswamy, an eight-year-old boy, was killed in the latest attack on Monday and his grandfather Kencha (45) is in critical condition following the incident. The death of the boy instilled massive protests from villagers on Monday and the Ponnampet-Makutta Road was blocked. The protests resulted in the forest department intensifying the capture mission.
While the protests continued till late evening on Monday, three gunshots were fired by the forest department and the news of the tiger being injured spread across the village. “We breathed a sigh of relief as we were told that the tiger was injured on its face and it would be captured before midnight,” said a villager. However, the tiger is still on the loose and officials have no confirmation on the injuries suffered by it.
“The combing operation for the tiger is still ongoing and we have no confirmation on the tiger suffering injuries. Sharpshooters including Susheel Kumar G are carrying the combing operation alongside tamed elephants and both tranquilizers and bullet shots are kept in handy,” confirmed Veerendra, Srimangala RFO.
Nevertheless, the villagers of Belluru have taken to indefinite protests and are being supported by farmers’ associations. The villagers have raised a makeshift tent and are protesting demanding that the department bring the body of the tiger. Many organizations are supporting the protests, which are likely to get bigger. Meanwhile, the protesters confirmed that they would block the Mysuru-Gonikoppal highway on March 10 from 12 noon to 1pm. They also threatened to hold protests inside the forest department office in Mathigodu.