MF AHMAD
Daltonganj, Jan 10: It is a trans-border leopard fear and terror in the Palamu Commissionerate. Any mishap in the jungle is directly attributed to the leopard, no matter whether the carnivore is seen or not.
Kumar Ashish, the deputy director North division of the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) said whenever there is any mishap in the jungles of PTR, people in sheer anger asks for PTR management to be there to promise fiscal relief.
Ashish said this new trend portends no good for anyone neither for the public nor for the PTR management. He said if someone sees a hyena or a jackal, an exaggerated version of it is floated.
He added that it is the leopard these days that has overtaken the elephant. He referred to the Kechki episode of Monday to buttress his point as to how wildlife has impacted life.
Notably, Irate residents on Monday staged a road jam for one hour at Kechki under the Barwadeeh police station in Latehar demanding monetary relief to a 40-year-old daily wager identified as Rajdeo Singh of Lali Mati tola of the village Saraideeh alleged to have sustained bleeding injuries by ‘any wildlife’ of PTR which attacked him on Monday morning.
However, the road jam was lifted after one hour following the intervention of the local Barwadeeh police and management of the tiger reserve Palamu.
Officer in charge of the Barwadeeh police station Srinivas Singh said, “Villagers are pretty scared following the menace of the leopard in the jungles of Garhwa. Here too, a man who was going to catch a local train to reach Daltonganj was allegedly attacked, as per his version, by a wild animal. He had bled in finger and leg.”
Police officer Srinivas said police had a tough time getting the road blockade lifted after one hour or so. He admitted the locals were very aggressive and hostile to the PTR management and the police had to ensure also that the mob didn’t harm the PTR personnel.
Srinivas said the mob was shouting against the PTR management saying when we touch or chase monkeys which upset their khapra roof of the house, the entire PTR gets on our toes and here one poor man has been attacked by wildlife and the PTR management is unresponsive to the situation.
Ashish, while quoting the doctor of the community health centre Barwadeeh where the injured Rajdeo Singh was taken down said, “The injuries do not appear to be of any animal bite. The man has two wounds – one on the index finger and the other on one leg. We are keeping a close monitoring of the area where this episode occurred this early morning today.”
However, Singh complained about the animal bite and the doctor on duty at the CHC Barwadeeh Dr Anupama Ekka did write animal bite as the main complaint of the patient Rajdeo Singh in the outdoor patient slip.
Ashish has appealed to the villagers to keep off from the jungles after sunset and before sunrise. He said there are numerous animals here and there but not every one of them is a leopard and this wildlife is not made a villain all the time.
“Our men have discovered the pug mark. The pug mark shows 6 fingers. I tell you for a guarantee that no carnivore has ever 6 fingers. All carnivores have 4 fingers. Leopard has 4 also. So it’s not a leopard at all,” explained the deputy director North division of PTR.
Lagatar24.com spoke to the lady doctor of the CHC where Singh was treated by her to know about the nature of the injuries etc.
“The right index finger injury is a case of laceration while left leg injury is a case of abrasion. Both are minor. As there are injuries, bleeding is bound to be there,” the doctor informed.
Dr Anupama reiterated the injuries are not serious at all and will heal soon. She said an anti-rabies injection has been given to this injured man along with antibiotics. The patient is fine and out of shock.
Sources said the local Congress MLA Ramchander Singh got this injured man rushed to the community health centre at Barwadeeh for treatment.
The Congress MLA said, “The road jam was more politically motivated. It was fanned by the rival political party. No one was ready to rush the injured man to the community health centre at Barwadeeh. I got it done.”
Ramchander Singh further said “My son was coming home when he saw this man in trouble. The crowd of people just wanted him to with it for a road jam. My son rushed him to the community health centre at Barwadeeh.”
The Congress MLA agreed that police and PTR management must sit together to find out measures to deal with such a situation where the road is blocked all for demanding money from the PTR for an alleged mishap in the jungles.
