The fear psychosis among the locals over the death of  sheep in the Niali area deepened further as one more lamb was found killed by a suspected wolf at Gobindapada village even as they and Forest Department personnel spent sleepless night to trace the killer animal.

Three sheep were also injured in the attack by wild animal at different places in Niali block, reports said.

Irate villagers staged a road blockade on the Niali-Phulnakhara road with the carcass of the dead sheep demanding compensation. Vehicular communication was disrupted for sometime on the road. The agitators said the death of their livestock has financially ruined them and the Government must compensate them.

Meanwhile, Forest and Environment Minister Bijayshree Routray directed the concerned DFO to work on war-footing to trace out the killer animal. “Enough is enough. You enter the Bhanragada forest with additional forces and locate the wild animals’ hideouts and holes,” the Minister said.

Expressing resentment over the delay in finding the wild animal, Routray told the DFO, “How long will people waitIJ People have lost patience and started saying that the killer is a man as we are unable to trace the animal. This is too much.”

Meanwhile, a team of officials from the Nandankanan zoo led by its Assistant Director Kl Purohit also visited the villages and took stock of the situation. Purohit said that from the pugmarks he was sure that the killer is a wolf.

The Forest Department undertook night patrolling in the villages with the help of local residents. Installation of CCTV cameras and setting of traps have not yet been done in the vulnerable areas despite the announcement of the PCCF, locals alleged.

The Forest Department has advised the villagers to keep their animals in sheds with walls and keep lights on at night as a precaution.