Five gored by bison, three held

Alipurduar, Nov. 20: Five persons, including three foresters, were gored by two bison in separate incidents at tea gardens in Banarhat today. While one animal died after being tranquillised, the other was killed by residents of the estate.

Three workers of Palasbari Tea Garden were arrested for killing the bison. Police and foresters seized raw and cooked meat from them.

This morning, one bison entered Banarhat Tea Estate, 83km from here. As the foresters shot a dart to tranquillise the animal, it attacked them. Kalyan Mukherjee, the beat officer of the Banarhat range, and two other guards were injured.

The bison was tranquillised later but it died on the way to forest. Manindr a Biswas, conservator of forest, north said: “The animal is known for its weak heart and died because it ran a long distance.”

Mukherjee has been admitted to a nursing home in Siliguri. “Doctors said he has multiple fractures on both hands and legs. He has also suffered a fracture in the pelvic girdle which has led to internal haemorrhage,” Kalyan Das, the divisional forest officer of Jalpaiguri, who accompanied Mukherjee, said.

At Palashbari, 4km from the Banarhat garden, workers spotted a bison about 2pm. The animal injured two workers who have been admitted to a Jalpaiguri hospital. Angry over the attack, the residents chased the bison, which fell in a drain. They then stoned it to death and then chopped it.

In the evening, three workers were picked up. “Raw meat weighing around 3kg and some cooked meat were seized during the raid,” Das said.

Injured rhino

A rhino has been found limping in Gorumara National Park and Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary for the past two days.

Foresters spotted the rhino with injury on the back and blood oozing from the rectum. “We are yet to know the sex of the rhino,” an officer said. “We suspect that it might have fallen prey to forcible mating or infighting or might have been hit by a train while trying to cross the tracks.”