Panic grips citizens as tiger walks into Tumsar village

Nagpur: Panic gripped Sitasawangi village, 110km from here in Tumsar forest range under Bhandara division, on Tuesday morning when a full grown tiger walked into the village.

According to eyewitnesses and some forest department staff members, the tiger has some injury in his right jaw and hence is unable to kill big animals. This is perhaps the reason the beast may be turning towards villages in search of small animals like calves, goats and dogs.

However, Bhandara deputy conservator Vivek Hoshing denied that the tiger was injured. “We agree its behaviour is unusual but a vet only can certify whether the tiger is injured. It has killed three animals in the last seven days. Had it been injured, our teams would have noticed it. We are submitting a report to chief wildlife warden seeking permission to tranquillize the tiger,” Hoshing said.

On Tuesday, videos of the tiger being followed by a motley crowd of villagers across the Gobarwahi-Sitasawangi railway line went viral on social media. “If the big cat attacks villagers, it will make matters worse for the forest department. The tiger needs to be captured, treated and released back in the wild. One woman from Sundartola near Sitasawangi was injured by the tiger on December 13,” said villagers.

As reported by TOI first, this is the same tiger that had entered a wedding reception and a house warming (vastu) function nearby in Masulkhapa village adjoining Maharashtra border in Madhya Pradesh. It was later heckled by foresters and people towards Nakadongri range in Bhandara on Maharashtra side on December 10.

On Tuesday, Sitasawangi villagers came to know of the tiger after dogs started barking continuously near a house. When curious family members of Rukhmabai Sahare came out to find out what has happened, they sighted the tiger around 1am.

“Frightened Sahares locked themselves in the house. But in the morning when Rukhmabai came out, the tiger was hiding in the adjacent bushes. It was there till 9.30am, by the time when at least 2,000 villagers had taken positions for sighting the animal,” said volunteers monitoring the animal.

Villagers told TOI that panic has gripped around 10 villages — Lodhi, Pavnarkhari, Sundartola, Chikhla, Sitasawangi, Dhanewada, Sonegaon, Sihora, Khandadgadri and Daveziri. All these villages overlap forest areas of Nakadongri and Tumsar range. “There is panic and people have stopped venturing out fearing the carnivore might enter their area even during day time,” said Sahare, a villager.

STRIPED GUEST FROM MP

* Dec 10: The tiger ‘attends’ marriage and vastu function in Masulkhapa in MP close to Maharashtra border. The animal was pushed to Bhandara division

* Dec 11-12: The tiger entered Pavnarkhari and killed a goat in front of villagers

* Dec 13: It attacked a woman in Sundartola near Sitasawangi village

* Dec 14: Tiger pugmarks were recorded near Dhamnewada village

* Dec 15: The big cat moved to Chandpur forest after uproar by villagers

* Dec 16: It again came near Sihora village and sighted by villagers

* Dec 17-18: The tiger travelled to Dhanegaon and reached Khairitola nullah. It was heckled by villagers

* Dec 19: The tiger entered Sitasawangi and was there till morning 9.30am