Two injured in bear attack in Asifabad

The injured persons were Avanidhar Goud of Lonavelli village and Choudari Bonu from Tonkini village.

Kumram Bheem Asifabad: Two persons were injured in an attack by a sloth bear at Lonavelli and Tonkini villages in Sirpur (T) mandal on Friday morning.

The injured persons were Avanidhar Goud of Lonavelli village and Choudari Bonu from Tonkini village.

Avanidhar received injuries to his shoulder when the bear attacked him while he was jogging on the outskirts of the village. He managed to scare the bear away by raising an alarm. He said that it then headed towards Parigaon where residents shooed it away.

Bonu was also injured on his his shoulder when the bear attacked him while watering his maize crop on the edges of Tonkini village. He alerted other farmers who in turn informed forest officials.

The injured persons were shifted to Sirpur (T) government hospital. They were stated to be out of danger.

Meanwhile, local farmers of both Lonavelli and Tonkini expressed concern over the bear straying into agriculture fields and requested forest officials to take steps to address the menace.

Sirpur (T) Forest Range Officer Ch Purnachandar said a mother bear along with a cub might have indulged in the attacks after being suddenly confronted by humans. He suspected that it could belong to Maharashtra and had entered Telangana in search of food.