It had killed a 9-year-old boy at Kallahatti village in H.D. Kote on Sept. 4

H.D. Kote: A tiger, which had killed a nine-year-old boy at Kallahatti village in H.D. Kote taluk on Sept. 4 and was elusive since then, has been finally captured by the Forest Department yesterday.

The tiger is aged between seven and eight years and the Forest Department is preparing to release the tiger into the forest. As the news of the tiger being tranquillised and caged spread, villagers began to arrive in large numbers to have a glimpse of the killer tiger and heaved a sigh of relief.

It may be recalled that on Sept. 4 evening, Charan Nayak (9), son of Madubai, was sitting in the agri field keeping a watch on chilli sacks, when the tiger attacked and dragged him besides devouring some parts of his body.

Madubai, who did not see Charan, called home only to know that Charan was not there. Madubai then began to search in the surroundings only to find the partly eaten body of Charan.

Soon, villagers began to gather at the spot and expressed anger on the Forest Department besides staging a protest. When Forest Department officials arrived at the spot, they demanded that the tiger be captured at the earliest as it had got the taste of human blood.

As soon as the Forest officials got the order from their higher officials to capture the tiger, they placed cages at various spots and even conducted combing operation to capture the                                                           elusive tiger but in vain. About 3 to 4 days ago, the tiger had killed an ox at the field belonging to one Tavare Naika and had partly devoured it.

The Forest staff, who did not remove the carcass of the ox from the spot, left it there and veterinarian Dr. Ramesh and staff, with the help of tamed elephants Ashwathama and Maharashtra Bheema stayed put at a distance waiting for the tiger to arrive and consume the carcass.

At about 7.30 pm yesterday, Dr. Ramesh armed with a tranquilliser gun and sitting atop an elephant spotted the tiger arriving to consume the carcass. He waited till the tiger came near the carcass and fired a dart at the tiger which struck it.

The tiger, which roared, moved to a distance and fell unconscious. The staff, who confirmed that the tiger was unconscious, shifted it in the Department vehicle and placed it inside a cage.

Dr. Ramesh, Dr. Ranjan and staff of the Forest Department took part in the operation.

It is learnt that the tiger was injured in a fight and was unable to hunt. Hence it had come to human habitat to prey on cattle and other domestic animals.

Meanwhile, the Forest staff are waiting for further orders from the higher officials to take future course of action.