A forest officer fired into the air to scare away a mob which attacked two policemen and pelted stones at the office of Forest department to protest the arrest of two villagers in connection with the death of a tigress.
Carcass of a full-grown tigress was found floating in a pond in Zari forest area near here recently. Lab test confirmed the animal's death was caused by electric shock, Forest Department sources said.
Accordingly, a father-son duo from village Pilki Wadhona were arrested on Friday by forest officials on charges of releasing electric current on the barbed wire fence of their farm which caused the big cat's death, they said.
Angry over the action, a group of villagers gathered near the forest office at Mukutben late in the night and demanded the release of Shankar Sambhaji Kurle and his son Pravin.
When the forest officials did not pay heed to their demand, the mob started pelting stones at the office. They smashed the window panes of a car parked in the premises and tried to set it on fire, the sources said.
The villagers also thrashed two police constables on duty, leaving them injured. As the situation appeared out of control, Range Forest Officer (RFO) of Pandharkawda Forest Division Ratnaparkhi opened fire into the air to disperse the mob, they said.
Police forces from nearby towns were dispatched to maintain law and order in the village, where the situation is tense but under control.
