3 killed since Tuesday in South Kashmir
By News Agency of KashmirÂ
Srinagar : After the roaring guns, it is the wild beasts which have become a source of terror for the people in rural Kashmir as during last twenty four hours stray bears killed three people including a minor and injured a teenager in far off villages of South Kashmir District of Anantnag.
Today two persons including a minor fell pray to a wild bear at Loiseer Srigufwara Anantnag while a teen ager suffered critical injuries in a similar attack.
Sources quoting locals told News Agency of Kashmir that two bodies with apparent marks of bear attack were recovered today. Among the dead one was a minor of seven year of age, while another was a middle aged man.
The victims have been identified as Ghulam Nabi Bhat, 35, and Faizan Farooq, 7 year old, A youth in his teens Sajad Ahmed Bhat was attacked in the same area by the bear on Tuesday inflicting serious injuries to him. Sajad is presently struggling between Life and death at District Hopital Srinagar.
In yet another incident a middle aged man was killed by a stray at Hingipora village of Doru constituency in the same district, sources said.
Muhammad Shafi Schki 50 son of Mir Muhammad of Ramchick at Chiter Gar Behak Hingipora was attacked by a bear barely a few hundred meters away from his house, sources quoting locals told News Agency of Kashmir.
The attack was so fatal and abrupt that before the people around could come to his rescue, the beast fled from the place leaving his victim in a pool of blood, sources added.
The incidents have evoked strong protest among the public of Srigufwara area who today staged protest demonstration and blocked Pahalgam Bijbhera road for several hours. They were holding Wild Life Department responsible for the increased attacks on human beings by the wild animals.
The animal man conflict has assumed alarming dimensions in the rural areas of Valley and higher reaches of Jammu Division. Experts find increasing population of and fast disappearances of green forest as the main reason behind the increased animal man clashes.
More than a dozen people have fallen pray to stray wild animals since last November in various parts of Kashmir.
A ten year old girl was killed by a leopard in Watrasu area of South Kashmir on January 8, while a woman was injured in Ahgam, Baramulla on January 18. Later in February a leopard struck in a remote village of Kashmir and kills about seventeen domestic animals.
Official record reveals that more than three leopard have been killed during the current year. While one of these animals was killed after a long chase by police in Handwara area of North Kashmir, two others were beaten to death by local villagers.
About 60 to 70 incidents of man-animal conflict were reported in various parts of Kashmir, last year in which more than a dozen people have lost their lives.
During this year's budget session state forest minister Qazi Muhammad Afzal had attributed lack of adequate men and machinery for the failure of wild life department in reining in the stray wild beasts.Â