Kolkata: The Christmas morning began on a fearful note for the villagers of Upendra Nagar at Patharpratima in South 24-Parganas after they stumbled upon fresh pugmarks on the Thakuran River bank.
The villagers had spotted pugmarks on Sunday late night in the locality and lit up fire torches to stand guard till the officials from the Forest department reached the spot. The team from the Forest department confirmed early morning that the pugmarks spotted by the villagers belonged to a Royal Bengal Tiger. Prima facie, they believe that the tiger used the route of the river bank to enter into the village and hid itself in the forest area inside the locality.
“A team led by two ADFOs (Additional Divisional Forest Officer) has started cordoning the village area to ensure foolproof safety for the villagers by using nylon net, following which they will start a search operation. Drones may also be used for detecting the exact location of the big cat. Accordingly, the operation for capturing the tiger will be planned,” Milan Mandal, DFO, South 24-Parganas said.
The normal activities of the villagers have come to a standstill and they have confined themselves to their respective homes.
“We will take all possible measures for capturing the tiger and driving it from the locality into the Sunderbans Forest,” a senior official of the Forest department said.