The reign of terror by wolves in Bahraich district refuses to end. On Monday morning, a three-year-old boy was brutally killed in a fresh wolf attack, pushing the death toll in the district to 13, including 11 children, over the past three and half months. The incident occurred in Rasulpur village under Fakharpur police station area, where a wolf snatched a toddler from right beside his mother in the wee hours of Monday.
Confirming the incident, divisional forest officer (DFO) Bahraich Ram Singh Yadav said the child, identified as Ansh (3), was sleeping beside his mother in the verandah of his house when a wolf entered the house around 4.30 AM on Monday. According to the distraught mother, the wolf suddenly appeared, clamped its jaws around the child’s neck, and fled into the fields. Despite her desperate cries and a frantic chase by family members armed with sticks and clubs, the animal vanished into the dense morning fog.
A massive search operation was launched by villagers, police, and forest department teams. After nearly six hours, the child’s body was recovered from a nearby area. DFO said both of the child’s legs were eaten, confirming that the wolf had fed on him. DFO said that the victim’s father, Ram Manohar, who works in Punjab, was informed of the tragedy later.
DFO Yadav described the incident as highly unusual, noting that the house where the attack occurred is located in a densely populated locality, surrounded by pucca houses, and not near any sugarcane fields—areas typically associated with such attacks. He said the wolves appear to have shifted to a new pocket, as earlier incidents were confined to Godhaiya villages 1, 2, 3, and 4 and nearby areas, whereas the latest attack site is nearly 15 kilometres away and lies within a thickly inhabited settlement.
{{/usCountry}}DFO Yadav described the incident as highly unusual, noting that the house where the attack occurred is located in a densely populated locality, surrounded by pucca houses, and not near any sugarcane fields—areas typically associated with such attacks. He said the wolves appear to have shifted to a new pocket, as earlier incidents were confined to Godhaiya villages 1, 2, 3, and 4 and nearby areas, whereas the latest attack site is nearly 15 kilometres away and lies within a thickly inhabited settlement.
{{/usCountry}}The DFO further explained that while goats were kept safely inside the house, the woman was sleeping with her young son in the open tin-shed verandah. He added that forest department teams have been deployed at the site with firecrackers, night-vision drone cameras, and trained shooters to intensify surveillance and tracking operations. However, dense fog has significantly reduced visibility, hampering the ongoing search efforts.
According to the DFO, it appears that only one or two wolves responsible for the recent attacks remain active in the area, and the department is confident that the predators will be captured or eliminated very soon.
Prior to this on December 13, one-year-old girl Arvi d/o Ram Kumar a resident of Godhaiya No. 4 village under Kaiserganj forest range of Bahraich was killed in a wolf attack. On December 5, two 5-year-old girls were attacked and injured in Malhanpurwa and Baburi hamlet of Godhaiya No. 1 villages.
Even though the forest department has eliminated six wolves as part of a special operation, attacks were being reported from time to time. Panic continues to grip rural pockets of Bahraich, with villagers questioning the effectiveness of existing safety measures. Parents are now afraid to let children sleep or play even within their homes. Forest and police officials have assured intensified patrolling, use of cages, thermal drones, and night surveillance. However, Monday’s tragedy has once again raised serious concerns over public safety and the urgent need for stronger containment measures to end the wolf menace once and for all.