Tiger pugmarks cause sensation in Rewari village

Rewari, January 20

A joint team of over 35 officials of the Forest and Police Departments from Haryana and Rajasthan today carried out an operation at Kharkhara village here to rescue a tiger that strayed into the district from the neighbouring state yesterday.

The operation was launched at 8 am to locate the big cat that is reported to have come from the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar district of Rajasthan. “Our team reached the village in the morning after the villagers spotted the pugmarks on the way to their fields. The inspection indicates the presence of the tiger, hence the operation will continue until it is rescued,” Rewari Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) Deepak Patil said.

Prakash Yadav, a resident of the village, said the police had been deployed in the area and no one was being allowed to enter the operation zone. “The fear of tiger has gripped the village,” he added.

Sources said the forest team had set up a live bait in the fields of Nikhari village yesterday to catch the tiger. They stayed in the village overnight, but did not spot the tiger. The team moved to Kharkara in the morning after receiving information about the pugmarks.

The tiger had, on Thursday, attacked a person near Khushkhera village of Bhiwadi (Rajasthan). The victim received minor injuries.

Keeping in view the tiger’s movement, the Rewari district administration has sounded high alert, asking villagers not to go alone to their fields before 7 am and after 5 pm. It has also issued a helpline number for sharing information about the tiger. “The Deputy Commissioner has also asked all SDMs, Civil Surgeon, DDPO, tehsildars and other officials to conduct ‘munadi’ (public announcement) in their area about the alert,” said sources.

The DC has appealed to people not to make noise and crowd the area on sighting the tiger, and avoid unwanted activities and to cooperate with the Forest Department.