Injured undergoes facial reconstruction surgery at Apollo BGS Hospital

Mysore/Mysuru: A farmer sustained serious injuries and has been admitted to a Apollo BGS Hospital in city after a tiger attacked and struck his face with its claws during a combing operation at Badagalapura village in Saragur taluk coming under Bandipur Tiger Reserve yesterday.

The injured farmer is 48-year-old Mahadeva of Badagalapura village. 

A combing operation to capture a tiger which had strayed out of the forest was being conducted during which a large crowd including Mahadeva had gathered to watch the operation.

During the operation, a few people threw stones on the tiger which was hiding among the bushes.  The tiger jumped out of the bushes and ran towards the crowd striking Mahadeva with its claws when he came in front of it, injuring him on his head, face and both his eyes.

Mahadeva was immediately rushed to Apollo Hospital in Mysuru by the Forest Department personnel and villagers. Sources at the hospital said that Mahadeva was out of danger and a surgery was being conducted on him this morning.

Combing operation

About three to four days ago, a tiger was spotted in the agricultural land on the fringes of the forest and the Forest Department was informed about it.

Yesterday, the Forest Department personnel began to conduct the combing operation with the help of tiger capture expert elephant Abhimanyu and another elephant Bhagirata.

When the Forest staff spotted the tiger among the bushes and getting ready to tranquillise it, the tiger fled from the bushes and hid among other bushes at a distance.

Meanwhile, a large crowd of villagers had gathered to watch the combing operation during which a few people pelted stones on the tiger which lunged forward and ran towards the crowd. As Mahadeva came in front of the tiger, it struck him on his face with its sharp claws injuring him seriously.

Large crowd gather

When villagers heard that Abhimanyu and Bhagirata had come for the combing operation to capture the tiger, they gathered in large number to watch the combing operation.

The tiger is said to be a female aged between 10 and 11 years which was suffering from injuries on its front leg. The Forest staff, who traced the tiger hiding among the bushes, decided to capture it. Veterinarian Dr. Ramesh, armed with a tranquilliser gun and dart, mounted Abhimanyu and began to move towards the bushes to tranquillise the tiger.

The tiger, which saw the elephant approaching, ran away from the bushes only to be followed by the crowd behind it. The tired tiger again took shelter among the bushes during which a few people in the crowd pelted stones on it prompting it to run towards them.

As the tiger was running towards the crowd, it leaped and struck Mahadeva’s face with its sharp claws just once resulting in Mahadeva falling on the ground with his face torn and injuries to his head and eyes besides bleeding profusely. The crowd sensing danger again pelted stones on the tiger making it flee from the spot.

Meanwhile, the villagers pelted stones on the Forest Department vehicles damaging them besides allegedly assaulting a few Forest personnel. As the villagers had damaged the vehicles, the Forest staff was unable to bring the cage to the spot, thus hampering the operation.

Meanwhile, the villagers have accused the Forest Department of not taking precautionary steps during the combing operation and also accused the Police Department for not deploying Police personnel to manage the crowd which led to the tiger attacking and injuring the farmer seriously,

Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Satish, Range Forest Officer (RFO) Vivek and other Forest Department personnel were present.