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A sloth bear strayed into a locality in Bhopal, the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, triggering panic and wounding some 10 people on Sunday morning.
Forest officials said the bear entered the city through Nabi Bagh, lumbered to Shabri Nagar and Chopda Kalan on Bhopal-Vidisha Road.
Soon after an alert was raised and forest officials launched a massive search operation in the area.
Even after 10 hours of search, forest officials were unable to trace and rescue the bear, reports the Times of India
Officials said the bear entered the Indian Institute of Soil Science (IISS) campus in Nabi Bagh by jumping over the boundary wall.
It was the same area where a tiger entered two years ago, sparking scare among people, officials said.
A guard spotted the bear around 7 in morning on the empty institute campus informed other employees.
Institute director’s driver Sukhram and other guards attempted to capture the bear, but the omnivore attacked and injured the driver. The bear then ran towards Shabri Nagar and injured a youth on the way.
As it moved, bear attacked a woman injuring her with claws.
Around half an hour later, the ferocious bear reached Rusalli Kheri, injured four persons and moved towards Shabri Nagar where it injured three persons, including a 10-year-old girl. After that it entered Rusalli Kheri village and injured three persons.
As per forest officials, from Rusalli Kheri village, the bear walked towards Chopda Kalan village but could not be traced. Forest officials burst crackers to scare the animal, but their efforts went in vein.
“The forest department will bear medical expenses of those, who were injured. For immediate help, family members have been provided an interim relief of Rs 5,000. As per rules, we can give maximum of Rs 0.3 million in such cases,” District forest officer SC Tiwari said.