Kolkata: Panic has gripped Deulbari village in Kultali block after a reported sighting of a tiger pugmark while the Forest department and the police are on alert.
It is learnt that on Saturday night, a tiger crossed the confluence of the Matla and Makdi rivers and entered the village. The animal was reportedly spotted by a fisherman from Deulbari village. He reported that it was roaming in a paddy field. Tiger paw marks have also been found. Upon receiving the news, officials and personnel from Kultali police station and the Forest Department reached the village that night. Forest workers kept watch throughout the night to capture the tiger. By morning, the entire area was cordoned off with nets.
Forest workers also found tiger paw marks next to the paddy field where the tiger was first seen. Three cages were set up to trap the tiger. However, the tiger remained elusive.
In this situation, panic has gripped the area. Since morning, public announcements via loudspeakers were carried out by the Kultali Police Station. As the tiger has entered the residential area, the police are advising villagers to seek safe shelter. The police administration has announced that children should not be left alone. Alongside this, it has also been instructed to secure livestock in safe places.
Paddy fields and areas adjacent to the river have been cordoned off with nets raised on bamboo poles. An official from the Forest department said: “Upon receiving news that a tiger had entered an area adjacent to human habitation, our personnel reached the spot at night.
The department, along with the police from Kultali Station, went to the area and searched in the direction in which the tiger had gone. Cages were set up to capture it. However, as of Sunday morning, that tiger was not sighted.”