Fear had gripped the residents of various villages affected by the tiger menace for the last few months.
The labourers and villagers had even stopped venturing out after sunset. With the tracing of the carcass of a dead tiger, the villagers can heave a sigh of relief, to some extent.
The residents of Kanoor, Srimangala, Kutta, Hudikeri, Nanacchi, Ponnampet, Teralu, Tavalageri, Kamatoor, Badagakeri, Bellur and Nittur were living in fear. Several cattle have lost their lives along with three human lives in tiger attacks.
Following the increase in the tiger attacks, the labourers had even refused to attend work in coffee estates.
The work on harvesting black pepper and irrigating coffee estates had come to a standstill.
The labourers had even left to their native, fearing an attack. Demanding the capturing of the tiger, farmers and labourers had staged a series of protests at Bellur.
The carcass of the tiger that was found at Lakkunda had an injury mark near its neck. It is suspected that the tiger died of a bullet injury. The postmortem report is awaited, said CCF Takat Singh Ranawat.
In fact, the department had deployed sharpshooter Susheel as a part of the operation.
Though the villagers had heard the sound of a firing, the tiger could not be traced all these days.
The villagers had even accused the forest department of letting the tiger free. With the tracing of the body, the curtains have descended on all the allegations.
Nagarahole Wildlife Division ACF Gopal said that it is suspected that the tiger would have strayed into the villages from Nagarahole.
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