Operation Tigress T1: Fear grips villagers as elephants return to MP

Four elephants had been brought in from Madhya Pradesh to capture T1

A day after the elephant brought in from Tadoba National Park for 'Operation Tigress T1', escaped and trampled a woman near her house, all the other four elephants have been withdrawn from the task of catching her. Apart from this, even the four veterinary teams, which had joined the operation, will no longer be a part of it.

However, now the desperation to catch the tigress might force the forest department to bring back controversial shooter Nawab Shafat Ali Khan to complete the task. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) (Wildlife), A K Misra said, "The four elephants that were brought in from MP have been taken back, as they are required to do other work there. Now, we have a total of 10 teams, which are stationed in the area. The search operation is on."

Even as the forest department continues with the operation, it seems the locals are reeling under a lot of fear. A villager from Pandharkawda said, "Till now the operation was going smoothly and we were optimistic that the tigress would be caught. But the incident of the elephant killing the woman has derailed the operation. The villagers are scared because the tigress killed a horse yesterday."

Meanwhile, sources said that the forest department teams were constantly interacting with locals and patrolling the area at night as well. Forest Minister, Sudhir Mungantivar, said, "The operation to catch T1 is in progress and our teams are working on ground." When asked whether shooter Khan would be brought back, he said, "Already there is a lot of pressure from the villagers. I have asked the forest department officials to resolve the issue at the earliest."

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