MYSURU: A tiger, which strayed out of the Gopalaswamy Betta forest range under Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR), attacked two villagers at Gopalapura village of Gundlupet taluk in Chamarajanagar district on Saturday. The victims who received minor injuries have been admitted to K R Hospital in Mysuru.
The incident happened on Saturday afternoon when the tiger killed a cow belonging to a farmer Siddappa in his farm. As the news spread, the villagers rushed to the spot and tried to chase the wild cat. But the panicked tiger while escaping from the crowd attacked Gaviyappa (60) injuring him in the eye.
The villagers rushed him to Gundlupet Government Hospital in a jeep. However, as the tiger tried to hide itself in a banana plantation in the village, villagers from Gopalaupra and nearby villages gathered in large numbers at the place. Despite warning from forest staff, the villagers went close to the tiger and tried to chase it back into the forest.
Officials keeping eye on tiger’s movement
The enraged tiger charged at the crowd and injured Rajashekar (35) in the leg. Rajashekar was immediately taken to Gundlupet Hospital and was later shifted to KR Hospital in Mysuru.
Bandipur Tiger Reserve director P Ramesh Kumar told TNIE, “Both villagers have received minor injuries. However, as the veterinary doctor of Bandipur is engaged in an operation to capture a elephant in Sakleshpura, he will be called to Bandipur immediately,” he said. Ramesh said a team of forest officials is camping in the village and monitoring the tiger’s movements.
“We will watch whether the tiger returns to the woods. If it does not, then we will decide whether to chase it back to the forest or capture it. We will take up the operation on Sunday morning,” he said. Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha’s Gundlupet unit president Mahadevappa told TNSE that the tiger has been prowling in the area and surrounding villages for the past few months.
“We had complained to the forest department after a few farmers sighted the tiger moving in the fields. Recently, the forest department staff had installed a trap cage in the village but without bait. So they failed to catch the tiger. Now it has attacked villagers and killed a cow. We want the foresters to immediately capture the tiger and release it in Mysuru Zoo,” he said.