Kamakhya Reserve Forest: 9 booked in Assam for pelting stones at tiger

The sub-adult female tiger strayed out of the Kamakhya Reserve Forest on November 18 morning.  File
| Photo Credit: Sabika Syed

GUWAHATI

As many as nine persons were booked in central Assam’s Nagaon district for pelting stones at a tiger and potentially blinding the wild animal that strayed out of a jungle.

According to forest department officials, the police in Jakhalabandha, a popular stopover for travellers on the highway between Guwahati and eastern Assam towns, raided the houses of the people for pelting stones at the tiger. They were identified from videos of the incident. Wildlife officials rescued the tiger, bleeding from several wounds near a railway bridge on November 20.

“People in the area surrounded the tiger and pelted stones at it, causing injuries,” one of the rescuers said, adding that the tiger was taken to the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation near the Kaziranga National Park about 60 km east of Jakhalabandha.

“The tiger is recovering but we fear she may lose vision in one eye. We have sought the help of Bhupen Sarma, an ophthalmologist from the veterinary college for confirmation,” Sonali Ghosh, the director of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve said.

The age of the nine accused ranged from 19 to 25 years.

The sub-adult female tiger strayed out of the Kamakhya Reserve Forest on November 18 morning. This prompted an order from Liza Talukdar, the Additional District Magistrate of the Kaliabor co-district to impose curfew-like restrictions along the banks of the Kolong River between Debasatra and Miribheti villages.

The entry and movement of people in seven villages were prohibited from 4 p.m. to 9 a.m. due to a “significant threat to human life”.

Environment activists have sought exemplary action against the people who pelted stones at the tiger apart from advising the Forest Department to conduct awareness camps and educate people about the ways of feral animals.

Dilip Nath, a resident of the Sonitpur district across the Brahmaputra River, wrote to the Jakhalabandha police not to spare the “animals on two legs” for endangering the life the big cat.