A tiger in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in south Karnataka has given nightmares to the locals living around it and the forest department, which has now decided to catch the big cat.

"It is not a man-eater but a man killer. It has killed two people and 14 cattle in the last two months. We want to catch it by using tranquiliser," Forest conservator (Bandipur Tiger Reserve), T Balachandra told PTI.

For the past two days, forest officers and personnel have camped in those areas where the tiger was seen roaming.

The tiger was spotted in Hundipura, Shivapura and Kannigowdanahalli. "We are putting more number of track cameras where it was seen. We have increased the number of veterinary doctors and more number of staff to track it," Balachandra said.

Denying some news reports that some sharpshooters have been deployed to kill the big cat, the forest officer said the department wants only to catch it using a tranquillizer. The foresters exuded confidence that by Thursday evening they will succeed in their mission.