Neta, police spar over tiger at large - Times of India

BELAGAVI: As the radio-collared tigress released in the forest continued to wreak havoc in Khanapur taluk, residents of Mudagai village in Jamboti forest attacked police and forest personnel on Thursday morning protesting their failure to capture or kill the maneater. This happened after the tigress killed a 23-year-old pregnant woman Anjana Hanabar on Wednesday evening.

Over 200 villagers, including women, assaulted two constables and pelted stones at police and forest personnel at 11am when food packets were being distributed to the personnel, deployed in the village since Wednesday night. The incident happened in front of Chikkodi MP Prakash Hukekri, who visited the village following Wednesday's attack. The villagers refused to cremate the body till the tiger is caught or killed.

Local MLA Arvind Patil, who led the protest, held Belagavi DCF Ambadi Madhav by his shirt collar and heckled him. Additional SP B S Nyamagouda, who intervened to free the DCF, asked the MLA to stop and said he was provoking people against police and forest personnel instead helping to maintain law and order.

Subsequently, Hukkeri spoke to both the MLA and the officer and solved the issue. He advised Patil not to disturb officers on duty. He also requested the villagers to withdraw the protest, after which they took the body for cremation.

The body was found in the jungle around 150 meters away from Mudagai village. Patil, who entered the jungle on Wednesday night along with around 50 people to search for the victim, said they saw the tigress 70-80 metres away eating her body. He said that though the villagers made noise, the radio-collared maneater wouldn't move.

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