Two farmers killed, one injured in wild bear attack

Two farmers were killed and one sustained grievous injuries when a sloth bear attacked them in Jharkhand's Gumla district on Thursday, police said. The three members, belonging to a family, were engaged in ploughing their paddy fields in the morning when animal attacked them at Ambera Nagesiatoli village under the jurisdiction of Karanj police station in Bharno block, a senior officer said.

Fifty-six-year-old Lalit Kishan died on the spot, Subhash Kishan (25) and Mangleshwar Kishan (35) sustained grievous injuries after the wild animal pounced on them suddenly.

The injured were rushed to Sisai Referral Hospital for primary treatment before they were referred to Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS), Ranchi.

Subhash Kishan, however, succumbed to his injuries in the facility, the officer said.

The incident took place at Ambera, a village of 200 households, between 5 am and 6 am on Thursday when three farmers were working on their farms.

Divisional forest officer (DFO), Gumla, Srikant Verma told PTI, "The village is adjacent to Londra forest. As per the information we received, the sloth bear was passing through the farm field. And, it suddenly attacked the farmers and killed one person on the field and left two critically injured." He said that the two injured - Subhash and Mangleshwar - were immediately brought to Ranchi RIMS. ''Subhash, however, succumbed to his injury. Mangleshwar is undergoing treatment and his condition is stated to be stable. All three people had serious face and head injuries," Verma said.

The incident of bear attack at Ambera village is rare, even though there is presence of the animal at hills between Ambera and Ambua villages, he said.

The next of kin of the deceased will be given an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each as per the rules. ''We have already given Rs 20,000 each to the family members of the two people who died in bear attack,'' Verma said.

Besides elephants, man-bear conflicts also cause huge damage to life and property in Jharkhand. As per an estimation of the forest department, the population of sloth bear could be 1,200-1,500 in Jharkhand.

There are eight species of bear found in the world, of which four—Asiatic black bear, includinng Himalayan brown, Malayan sun bear and sloth bear found in India.