Bhawanipatna: Two persons were seriously injured in an attack by a wild bear which strayed into Bhawanipatna town in Odisha from the nearby forest on Friday, triggering panic among the people, officials said.
After entering the town in Kalahandi district, the bear apparently felt insecure at the sight of people on the streets and attacked some of them, causing serious injuries to two persons, police said.
Some youths rescued the injured persons, who were admitted to Bhawanipatna Government Hospital, a police official said, adding that one of the injured was later shifted to a hospital in Bhubaneswar as his condition worsened.
The bear is still moving around the town and police and forest department personnel have been trying to capture it, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Nitesh Kumar said.
Attempts by the forest personnel to tranquilise the animal has failed, he said.
In view of the situation, the police had to use loudspeakers to ask the people not to venture out of houses and close down shops.
Efforts to tranquilise the bear will continue and then it will be released in the forest, Kumar said.
Police and forest department personnel are on the job, and they are keeping a watch on the movement of the animal, he said.
In a similar incident on August 15, a bear strayed into the town, and it was captured and released in the forest.
(PTI)
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