Two farmers were seriously injured in a tiger attack at Kultali in South 24 Parganas district today.
Divisional Forest Officer Lipika Biswas said the predator, having strayed from nearby Sunderbans Reserve Forest, pounced upon a group of people harvesting in the afternoon injuring two of them, identified as Ajoy Kayal and Chittaranjan Sardar.
The tiger escaped when chased by villagers alerted by the screams. The injured duo were taken to Joynagar Hospital with one later shifted to Kolkata as his condition deteriorated, the DFO said.
The big cat, which had come to the locality swimming across a rivulet from its habitat in Sunderbans, was now hiding in Katamari jungle of the forested village, the DFO said.
High voltage lamps were fitted at the spot as forest personnel, accompanied by local volunteers, were camping.
Two cages were kept ready to trap the predator.
The tiger also devoured one goat.
This is the third time a tiger strayed into Kultali in past one month.
Forest personnel were examining the pugmarks to see if it could be the same animal.
