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Wolf terror in Bahraich: Death toll rises to nine
Villagers in Bahraich, U.P., are facing nightly wolf attacks that have killed nine people, mostly children. Officials are increasing patrols and safety measures.
The scene after dusk at more than two dozen villages under the Mahsi Tehsil area in U.P’s Bahraich district seems right out of a horror/ thriller. The men folk keep watch, holding iron rods, sticks and torches, shouting ‘Jagte Raho’ (stay awake), while the women sleep tying the children of the family to their sarees.
People in about 30 villages located in the Terai region of the Ghaghra Riverbed have been spending sleepless nights for the past one-and-half months to keep their children safe. Even during the day, children are being held back from venturing out of the house, due to which the attendance in schools has taken a hit.
The reason for this near terror is wolves, who have killed nine people, mostly children, between the age groups of 1 to 8 years, since March 2024. Out of the nine killings, seven took place in the past 40 days (July 17 to August 26). There are 50 others whom the wolves have attacked and injured under the Hardi and Khairighat PS areas, both falling under Mahsi Tehsil of Bahraich.
District Forest Officer (DFO) Bahraich, Ajit Singh, said on Tuesday that a pack of six wolves was seen in CCTV footage, out of which three wolves had been captured. Singh further said three wolves are still running free, out of which one is lame. The DFO said that though nine killings have been reported since March 2024, two killings seemed to be doubtful.
DM Monica Rani has asked the villagers not to sleep with their children outside the house. The DM said officials were asked to install solar lights at 40 locations besides 10 high-mast lights would also be installed at different locations in the affected villages.
SP Vrinda Shukla said that out of nine only two incidents are a little bit doubtful as classic signs of wolf attacks were not found in the cases clearly. She said a separate team has been formed to ascertain if there could be any foul play behind the incident.
She said the police were working on all possible angles. Talking about Rita Devi who was killed on Sunday night, the SP said nothing was consumed by the animal and 21 puncture wounds were found on the neck of the woman.
She said the wounds seem like a canine attack but they are not as deep as a normal wolf attack so we are exploring all possible angles in that case.
Similarly in another case of eight-year-old Khushboo, normally a wolf eats arms and legs but in that case the body seems too neat. Normally, animals eat unevenly and mostly face and neck were mauled but in that case very few injury marks were found on the neck.
She further said that a majority of incidents are common and of similar pattern so there is no doubt that there was an animal on the loose and we need to control it. But it cannot be denied that someone can take advantage of the atmosphere of panic and terror to fulfill their own agenda, Vrinda added.
“We are inspecting all possible angles in those two doubtful cases,” she said, adding that seven more teams have been formed in Khairighat and Hardi PS areas. The teams were asked for night patrolling in all affected areas to keep the animals at bay. She said the patrolling would be continued until the animals are caught.
BJP MLA from Mahsi, Sureshwar Singh, also camped in the village where wolf attacks were reported. Holding a rifle in hand the BJP MLA spear-headed a search operation in Kumharapurwa village for the wolves in the area along with other villagers on Sunday night. The BJP MLA also accused several police personnel of laxity.
Earlier, the attacks came only under Hardi PS area of the Mahsi Tehsil but due to intensified monitoring, the pack seemed to change their pattern and moved to Khairighat PS area.
On Monday night, a wolf attacked and took away one Ayansh, 5, while he was sleeping along with his mother, Roli, in his house in Deewanpurwa hamlet of Raipur village under Khairighat PS area. The mutilated body of the boy was found on Tuesday morning in a sugarcane field.
On the same night, three other children were attacked and injured in wolf attacks in Baruhi hamlet of Chhatarpur village. The injured children were identified as Hariyali, 6, Shivani, 9 and Vansh Kumar, 3. All of them were rushed to the Community Health Centre, Mahsi.
Prior to this, one Rita Devi, 41, a resident of Kumharanpurwa village, under the Hardi PS area, was said to be attacked and killed by a wolf, late on Sunday night. She was rushed to CHC Mahsi where she was declared dead.
In another incident, a wolf attacked one Kajal, 25, a resident of Loniyanpurwa under Khairighat PS area of the Mahsi Tehsil on Monday morning. Kajal was breastfeeding her child when a wolf attacked her baby. Kajal sustained injuries to her face in an attempt to save her baby.
The district administration has installed loudspeakers and focus lights to keep the animals at bay, and forest officials of five districts, Shrawasti, Gonda, Katarniaghat and Barabanki, have been deployed, yet the wolf attacks continue.
DFO Barabanki, Akash Deep Badhwan, who has been deployed as chairman of the wolf capturing committee by the chief wildlife conservator (CWC) Renu Singh, said that the three free wolves had been identified and were being tracked continuously.
He said we are planning to use elephant dung and urine to keep the pack of wolves at bay from residential areas. He said the elephant dung would be arranged from Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary (KWS). The burning of the dung cake would create an illusion of elephant presence in the area. He said wolves typically live in packs of 6 to 10 and avoid areas of big animals like elephants.
DFO Bahraich Ajit Pratap Singh said “we are leaving no stone unturned to catch the pack of wolves.”
Taking a serious note of the matter, district magistrate Monica Rani and superintendent of police Vrinda Shukla visited the affected villages over the last two days.
On Tuesday both the DM and SP reached Deewanpurwa hamlet of Raipur village and met with the family members of deceased boy Ayansh. Earlier, the duo visited Kumharapurwa village and met with the family members of Rita Devi. Both officials asked the villagers about the incidents and asked them to be vigilant during the night. SP Shukla also visited the hospital and enquired about the health of the injured.
DM holds meeting with villagers
The DM held a meeting with village heads, public distribution shop (PDS) dealers, panchayat secretaries and Rozgar Sewaks of Mahsi Tehsil area at Mahsi block headquarters on Tuesday.
She instructed the village heads and others to form patrol parties in their respective gram panchayats who would keep vigil in three to four hour shifts. She said villagers are to be made aware that they should not sleep in open places, especially in areas adjacent to the fields.
The DM urged the village heads to educate villagers that people should sleep on rooftops or in closed places where no predatory animal could reach.
The DM directed the village level employees, Anganwadi workers, Asha, ANM and sanitary workers to go door to door to make people aware and to hold meetings with women in houses located adjacent to fields and motivate them not to sleep in the open.
She also instructed block development officer (BDO) Shivpur, Rajendra Prasad, to hold a similar meeting with village heads and village level employees in his block to make people aware.
Chief development officer (CDO) Mukesh Chandra, SDM, Mahsi, Akhilesh Kumar Singh, District Panchayat Raj officer (DPRO) Raghvendra Diwedi, district supply officer (DSO) Narendra Tiwari, district programme officer (DPO), Raj Kapoor and other block level officials were present at the meeting.
