An adult Royal Bengal tiger attacked people after straying out of a forest in India's Assam state on Tuesday, leaving at least two injured, officials said.
Royal Bengal tigers are from a specific population of the Panthera tigris subspecies that is native to the Indian subcontinent.
According to forest officials, the incident took place on the outskirts of Tezpur town, 175 kilometres from Guwahati city.
A video of the incident now going viral shows a group of people running to save their lives as the tiger chases them. A person also becomes a victim of the tiger as it jumps and catches him; luckily, it leaves the man and goes away. The crowd was panic-struck by the beast's sudden attack.
#RoyalBengalTiger in Borguri Village, #Tezpur #Assam #tiger Source:villagers pic.twitter.com/BRmTN7YFhl
— Darpa Saurav Jyethi (@darpasaurav) November 24, 2020
Forest officials are currently at the site to control the situation, which is being monitored by the Divisional Forest Officer of Tezpur.
"It has been reported that two people have been injured so far. We suspect that the tiger might have strayed out of Kaziranga National Park or Nameri National Park and Forest Reserve", Kaziranga Field Director P. Sivakumar told media.
"We will take a call on the nature of the operation after assessing the field conditions. A tranquilising team is here. If needed, we will tranquilise it or drive it away", he added.
According to the country's tiger census, a total of 225 people were killed by tigers between 2014 and 2019, while over 30 people have been killed in 2020 so far.
