Bettiah: The Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) forest department has launched an intensive operation to capture a tiger or drive it back into the forest after the big cat killed 50-year-old farmer Vijay Haldar near Bhedihari village in West Champaran on Saturday. The incident triggered protests with villagers blocking the Valmikinagar-Bagaha main road and accusing the forest department of failing to take adequate safety measures despite repeated tiger movement.Haldar was attacked while working in his sugar cane field near the VTR in the Valmikinagar police station area. According to his family, he was working at around 11am when the tiger emerged from the forest and attacked him. He suffered serious injuries and died at the spot.Villagers placed Haldar’s body on the Valmikinagar-Bagaha state highway, blocking traffic. The protest turned tense with villagers allegedly pushing and jostling with forest personnel.SDPO Nihar Bhushan, SDM Chandni Kumari and SSB assistant commandant Awadhesh Kumar, along with police and forest department officials, reached the spot and brought the situation under control.Madanpur forest range officer Satyam Kumar said an operation was underway to track and capture the tiger.He said, “Continuous public announcements, foot and vehicle patrolling, tracking, drone monitoring, camera trapping, installation of a trap cage, patrolling and tracking with elephants and monitoring from a temporary machan are being carried out around the incident site in Bhedihari. The tiger will soon either be captured or driven back towards the forest.”Satyam appealed to villagers not to venture into their fields until the tiger is confirmed to have moved back into the forest.The latest incident is the third fatal tiger attack in West Champaran within a month, including the death of a woman. Two incidents occurred in the Valmikinagar range. On July 30, 65-year-old Aklu Yadav was killed at Bisaha, while on July 31, 45-year-old Umrawati Devi was killed at Mishrauliya Reta under Naurangia police station in Madanpur forest range.
