Fear grips residents as pugmarks spotted at Ranibandh & Belpahari

Kolkata: The fear of a tiger has gripped the residents of Ranibandh in Bankura and Belpahari in Jhargram with the spotting of pugmarks on Friday. The foresters believe that the tiger is the same one that had returned to Dalma Forest in Jharkhand on January 21 after staying for 10 days in the forests of Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram.

In the morning, pugmarks were spotted by an Anganwadi worker while going for work at Bagdubi Forest in Ranibandh. The foresters visited the site and confirmed the same to be of the tiger.

In the late afternoon, the foresters tracked the tiger at Banspahari in Jhargram following which they started miking in the adjoining villages so that no one ventures into the forest

for safety reasons. “We have taken all precautionary measures to prevent the entry of the big cat within human habitat,” said a senior official of

the Forest department.

On January 20, the Bengal foresters had searched the pugmark trace upto Jharkhand border (from Raikha hills of Purulia) and spoke to Range Forest Officer (RFO)

Ghatshila Digvijay Singh who had confirmed the report of tiger movement at Jharkhand side (Kalajora Mouza ) in Ghatshila range of Dalma Forest which is 7 km away from the Bengal border. The foresters had not ruled out chances of the big cat ‘s return back to Bengal forest which actually happened on Friday.