Boy injured in Bahraich wild animal attack
The child’s father insists it was a tiger, while the forest department maintains that there is no evidence to support the claim
Panic gripped Baruha village under Nanpara forest range on Tuesday night after a wild animal attacked a six-year-old boy, dragging him into the bushes. The child’s father, however, insists it was a tiger, while the forest department maintains that there is no evidence to support the claim.
Manoj Kumar, a resident of Bitaniya village, was returning home around 9 PM with his daughter Ranjni (10) and son Aditya (6) on foot, walking a bicycle. During the walk, Aditya stopped near a clump of grass to urinate when a wild animal hiding nearby suddenly leapt and dragged him inside.
Manoj immediately pulled the boy back. By then, the animal had fled. The child suffered deep claw injuries on his face and back. The injured boy was first taken to the Nanpara Community Health Center (CHC) for treatment and later referred to the medical college for advanced care.
On receiving the information, range officer Piyush Gupta, inspector Amit Verma, and SHO Nanpara, Rajnath Singh, reached the site to investigate. However, officials stated that no tiger pugmarks or signs were found in the area.
Gupta said, “There was no presence of tiger in the area and no pugmarks were found at the spot. It is more likely that a jackal was involved in the attack.” He added that forest teams are maintaining a vigil and residents have been urged to remain alert.
Assistant conservator of forests, Rashid Jameel, also said that the attack might have been carried out by a jackal as big cats were not present in that area. Besides, no pugmarks were found at the site.
