Gudalur: In a bizarre incident, residents of Bommalapuri in Chamarajanagar district locked up forest department officials inside a cage that had been installed to trap a tiger.

The villagers, frustrated by the recurring menace of a tiger preying on their livestock near the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, resorted to the unusual protest. Despite repeated complaints, the tiger continued to roam freely, attacking domestic animals, even after a cage had been set up in the area.

Angered by the delay in capturing the animal, the locals forced the forest officials, who had arrived in the morning to inspect the cage, inside it and locked them up. The dramatic protest prompted Assistant Conservator of Forests in Gundlupet, Suresh Kumar and Bandipur Assistant Conservator of Forests, Naveen Kumar, to rush to the spot and hold talks with the villagers.

The officials were eventually released after giving assurances that efforts to capture the tiger would be intensified.