Gundlupet: A man from Odisha spotted inside the Bandipur Tiger Reserve is giving sleepless nights to the Forest officials who are busy in creating fire lines to prevent forest fire during summer. The man in question has been arrested and has been handed over to Anti-Naxal Force that is operating in the Tiger Reserve to curb Naxalism. 

The man was spotted inside the sensitive area of the forest and he was captured by the forest watchers inside the core area. On checking, the guards found cooked roots and tubers, clothes and bread from his bag suggesting that he was living inside the forest since some time and has the means to extract and cook food. 

This has baffled the Forest Department who are now checking how this man managed to enter the core area in an unauthorised manner where every person is checked. Officers told Star of Mysore that the man was brought to Maddur Range Forest Officer’s office and then questioned. The Officers then learnt that the man had come from Odisha. 

Officials said that the man looked like a deranged person and they are probing whether he was a Naxal activist who has come to recce the forest area or a hunter who is looking for a kill. Officials suspect that since he had boiled roots and tubers, he has a good knowledge of forest food and knows how to survive in extreme conditions. The Anti-Naxal Force has been informed and the person has been handed over to them for further investigation, said Bandipur Tiger Reserve Director (Project Tiger) T. Balachandra. 

Last year too, one person from Jharkhand had gained unauthorised entry into the Tiger Reserve and he was spotted at Kundkere and Kadaboor areas. Even he looked like a deranged person and the officials had let him off without any investigation. Within days, last year, forest fire originated at Kundkere and thousands of acres of forests were reduced to ashes inside the core area of Bandipur Tiger Reserve. 

This year, officials are not taking any chances and are screening all visitors and suspicious outsiders are being frisked and questioned. Special check posts have been set up with the assistance of the Police personnel.