[Watch] Karnataka Villagers Lock Up Forest Officials In Cage As Human Bait, Here’s Why

Bengaluru: In a bizarre act of ‘do-it-yourself’ forest management, residents in Karnataka’s Bommalapura village—located in the buffer zone of Bandipur Tiger Reserve under Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar district—shoved at least 10 frontline staff of Forest Department into a cage and locked them up in middle of a field on Tuesday (September 9). Think of the scene and it feels ripped from a pulp thriller. But it wasn’t any act for the screen. Rather it was—as the villagers put it—‘justice’ in their own way or a pointed message to the bureaucracy: “If you won’t protect us, we’ll make sure you feel the danger.”

Here’s why they did so: The forest department staffers were locked inside a tiger trap cage as the villagers were reportedly upset over the attacks by the wild animal on cattle and even on humans in the Bandipur buffer zone. The cage was put up to trap a tiger that was reportedly terrorising their fields and killing livestock. And, the villagers—in their own ‘jungle justice’—decided to use the forest staffers as human bait for the big cat.

Who placed the cage: According to media reports, the cage was placed by the department after villagers reported pug marks of a tiger near their fields.

Watch the video of the incident here:

Forest officials locked up in a cage meant to capture Tiger.
In a dramatic form of protest in Chamarajanagar over alleged inaction by forest dept to curb the tiger attacks in their village , residents locked forest officials inside the very cage meant to trap the big cats. pic.twitter.com/W4BkpSLHIj

— Deepak Bopanna (@dpkBopanna) September 10, 2025

What happened next: When the big cat did not fall into the trap and further combing operations were not being taken up allegedly, the irked villagers turned on the field staff, reported the Hindu.

Where was the big cat spotted: The tiger was apparently sighted some days back in the field of a local farmer. There were also cattle kills reported from the area.

What was the final outcome: After the standoff, forest officials initiated a combing operation in and around Bommalapura to locate the tiger, reported ABP. According to reports, Partha Sarathi, a trained elephant from Bandipur, was deployed to aid the search. Officials urged villagers to cooperate. But no senior forest official had commented on the issue.

Were the forest staffers released: About 20 minutes later, the villagers—assured by forest officials—opened the cage and released the Forest Department staffers. But the incident has drawn sharp criticism from wildlife activists and raised concerns over the security of Forest Department officials.