Case registered against five after villagers lock up Forest dept staff in cage set to trap tiger

CHAMARAJANAGAR: The Forest Department has filed a case against five farmers at the Gundlupet police station after they locked up some Forest staff in a cage meant to trap a tiger at Bommalapura village in Gundlupet taluk on Tuesday.

The complaint was lodged by Deputy RFO Gnanashekar against Raghu, Deepu, Gangadhara Swamy, Pradeep and Revanna of Bommalapura. The villagers had locked up the Forest staff in a cage, deflated their jeeps and used abusive language while threatening to burn them alive for alleged delay in capturing a tiger.

A tiger had been spotted in the village about a month ago and a cage was placed on the outskirts of the village on the insistence of the villagers. However, the tiger had remained elusive. Angry over this, the villagers had locked up the Forest staff in the cage.

The Gundlupet police, who visited the spot, convinced the villagers and freed the Forest staff.