Man-eater wolves still on the prowl; two girls dragged from beds, families claim

Bahraich (UP): Two more girls have been injured in suspected wolf attacks in two villages of Mahasi tehsil in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, officials said on Wednesday.

According to the officials, one of the incidents, involving a 11-year-old girl, took place in Makupurwa village late Tuesday night, while the other attack occurred in Bhavani Pur village, where a 10-year-old girl was injured.

Though the villagers claim the attacks were carried out by wolves, government doctors suspect the injuries may have been caused by bites from another animal, they said.

The forest department said it was yet to confirm which animal was behind the latest attacks in the region, which has been in the grip of fear due to man-eating wolves that have killed eight people and injured more than 30 since mid-July.

In the first incident, according to villagers, a 11-year-old girl, who was sleeping with her family in Makupurwa village, was lifted from her bed and dragged by the neck by a wild animal late Tuesday night. The family raised an alarm and chased the animal away, forcing it to leave the injured girl behind, they claimed.

In the second incident in Bhavani Pur village, a 10-year-old girl was dragged off her bed by a wolf around 5 am on Wednesday. The girl's mother said, "I saw the wolf approaching and we started hitting it with sticks. It left the child and fled." Bhavani Pur village head Gulraj also mentioned the possibility of a wolf attack. Both the girls are being treated at the Mahsi Community Health Centre (CHC), the officials said.

"Bite marks and scratches have been found on various body parts of both the girls. It is possible these are animal bites," CHC in-charge Dr Ashish Verma told reporters. He added that there have been around 30 similar cases since mid-July.

However, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ajit Pratap Singh expressed doubts about wolves being involved. "In the Makupurwa incident, if a wolf had dragged a 4-foot-tall child by the neck, there would have been signs of dragging, which were not found. No wolf tracks were found nearby," he said.

"Fresh wolf tracks were found at 4 am but the attack in Bhavani Pur was reported to have occurred at 5 am. The locations are far apart, and wolves cannot cover such a distance in such a short time," Singh said.

He suggested that hospital doctors should send swabs of the girls' wounds to the Wildlife Institute of India for analysis to identify the animal involved.

Since July 17, a campaign named 'Operation Bhediya' has been ongoing to capture a pack of six wolves that have been terrorising 50 villages in Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich district. Five wolves have already been captured and efforts to catch the remaining man-eating wolf have been intensified, the officials said.

So far, at least eight people, including seven children, have died and over 30 have been injured in suspected attacks by these wolves, they said.

The district administration and forest department are conducting rescue, relief and awareness campaigns in the area. Solar and high-mast lights have been installed in open houses and villages.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is personally monitoring the situation, the officials said.

They added that hundreds of forest department personnel, security forces and officials are involved in 'Operation Bhediya'. PTI COR KIS BHJ BHJ