Asifabad ryots claim tiger sighting in cotton fields

Sources said that the big cat tried to attack the labourers when they were picking cotton in the field

Mancherial/Kumram Bheem Asifabad: Sighting of a tiger in a cotton field reportedly created a flutter at Kallampalli village in Vemanapalli mandal on Thursday.

Sources said that the big cat tried to attack the labourers when they were picking cotton in the field. It, however, returned to the wild when they raised alarms. But, foresters refuted the claims of the laborers. They said that they could not spot pugmarks of the carnivore at the field. They requested the labourers to work by standing close to each other and to deploy a person for patrolling.

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Karjelli FRO Naluwala Rajender said that he visited the agriculture field after receiving information about the incident. “As per our enquiry, the pug marks looked like that of hyena. The elderly farmer was visibly frightened after spotting a wild animal which might not be a tiger. Sighting of tiger cannot be ruled out as the big cats continue to move in forest fringe villages,” he said.

Meanwhile, a farmer acted as if he died when he spotted a tiger wandering in a cotton field at Munjampally village in Chintalamanepalli mandal. Karjelli Forest Range Officer Rajender said that farmers should take preventive measures to avoid attacks by the big cat. He told the farmers to carry trumpets and iron tins to scare the carnivore if it enters a cotton field.

A posse of tribals staged a dharna demanding authorities of the Forest department to capture the killer tiger in Bejjur mandal centre on Thursday. They wanted the foresters to trap the big cat at the earliest and avoid human loss. They regretted that they were living in the grip of fear following increased movement of the solitary animal.

Tigers recently killed around 30 cattle and two humans in Kaghaznagar and Asifabad forest divisions in the recent past. They are sometimes occupying roads, terrorising motorists. The menace of the big cats is panicking the rural folks and farmers. Two tigers belonging to Maharashtra are suspected to have developed erratic behavior and attacking humans.

A tiger mauled tribal girl Pasula Nirmala (18) to death when she was picking cotton in an agriculture field at Kondapalli village of Penchikalpet mandal on Sunday. A big cat killed another tribal boy Sidam Vignesh (22) when he was fishing in a stream at Digida village in Dahegaon mandal on November 11.

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