Madhya Pradesh: The bear was caught after forest personnel tranquilised it. (Representational)
Panna:
A bear attacked and killed a couple on Sunday morning and kept devouring the corpses for over five hours in Madhya Pradesh’s Panna district, an official said.
Efforts to chase it away while it was eating the body parts were in vain and the bear was caught only after forest department personnel managed to tranquilise it, the official said.
“The incident occurred in Khermai area, some one-and-half kilometres from the district headquarters, at around 6.30am. The couple, identified as Mukesh Thakur (50) and Indira Thakur (45) from Raniganj area here, had gone to offer prayers at a temple. Staff which reached the spot found the bear eating the corpses part by part over a period of time,” said Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Gaurav Sharma.
“We informed Panna Tiger Reserve teams as well. The bear was caught post tranquilisation and the bodies of the couple have been recovered. The animal will not be released in the forest and we plan to send it to some zoo in another city,” he added.
He said financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh each will be provided to the kin of the couple.
Meanwhile, the kin of the couple claimed police and forest teams arrived at the site two to three hours after the incident.