The residents of Khejurbaria under Sharankhola upazila of Bagerhat are literally living in fear for their lives as a Royal Bengal Tiger was spotted lying down inside a fish enclosure in the village.
Shahin Khan, a resident of the village, was the one to spot the tiger - first at his fish enclosure, two kilometres from the Sundarbans, around 9:15pm on Thursday. Later this was announced through the mosque’s loudspeakers to warn the villagers, but it ended up creating panic among them.
On information, forest officials and rangers visited Khejurbaria village on Friday morning. They searched in the gardens and bushes of the village but did not find the tiger.
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Shahin’s father and union parishad member Abul Hossain Khan said, “Our village is situated two kilometres from the Sundarbans. Bhola River and Dhansagar village are situated in the middle our village and the Sundarbans. A tiger was seen after long years in our village. Villagers did not take any action to catch the animal or chase it away despite fear. We have informed the forest department about the tiger.”
Sundarbans East Zone Dhansagar station officer Abdus Sabur said, “Being informed, we have visited the village but did not find any footprints of the tiger. The ground was dry. Our team is patrolling here, so that if they see the tiger, they can take measures to chase it away or send it back to the forest.”