A tiger suspected of being the maneater responsible for killing at least three persons in the Bhimtal block of Nainital district was tranquilised and captured by the Forest department on Monday night. The big cat was tranquilised by the departmental team in Jangaliyagaon area and then sent to the rescue centre in Ranibagh. Officials informed that the big cat is a female and aged about one and a half years. It has not yet been ascertained whether the tigress caught by the authorities is the big cat responsible for killing three women in the Bhimtal area because one tigress along with her two cubs were being sighted in the area for about one year now. The divisional forest officer Chandra Shekhar Joshi informed that the Forest department team received information on Monday that a tiger had been sighted in the Jangaliyagaon area.  A 10-member team comprising Corbett national park senior veterinary officers and other departmental personnel was formed to respond to the information. The team reached the village where the big cat had been sighted. The tigress started going towards the jungle after spotting the departmental team. The team somehow managed to surround the big cat and finally managed to tranquilise it at about midnight on Monday. The tigress was later sent to the rescue centre in Ranibagh.

It is pertinent to mention here that three women were killed by a big cat within about a fortnight in the Bhimtal block. The Forest department had deployed more than 200 personnel in the area as part of efforts to ensure the safety of the locals and capture the big cat. The department had also installed cameras, placed cages and stepped up patrolling in the areas where big cats were being spotted. A few days ago, a leopard was captured in one of the cages placed by the department.

The terror of the maneater started in the area on December 7 when Maluatal resident Indra Belwal was killed by a big cat. This was followed by Pinora village resident Pushpa Devi being killed by the big cat. The last known victim of the big cat was Tada village resident Nikita Sharma who was killed on December 19. The resulting terror in the area had disrupted routine life and also resulted in the people staging a massive protest seeking concrete action from the authorities to tackle the menace of the maneater.