It was so near and yet so far for the teams on a lookout to nab an elusive tiger which has killed three persons in the district early this month in a span of six days as they missed trapping it by just 100 metres today.
Forest Department officials said an Special Task Force team, police and their department personnel noticed it's movement through infrared cameras near Kundachappai village, zeroed in and came to within 100 metres of the animal, while villagers and senior district officials, including Nilgiris Collector P Shankar stood a further distance away.
As the tranquilising team took position and STF members got ready to take a shot in case of an emergency, a sambar deer suddenly came running towards them, the tiger in hot pursuit, officials said.
However, the deer suddenly veered away while the tiger hid behind a huge rock in a very bushy area on seeing the crowd, forest department sources said.
They said the tiger was still hiding behind some bushes in the rocky area and added that efforts would continue to trap it.
One of the camera images captured earlier in the day had shown the carnivore to be in good health.
Collector Shankar had said that as many as 250 personnel, drawn from police, forest and Special Task Force officials, have joined the efforts to trap the tiger.
