Bhawanipatna: A panic situation prevailed in the town on Friday as a wild bear strayed into the locality and attacked people, seriously injuring two persons.
According to police, the bear apparently entered the town in Kalahandi district from the nearby forest. Alarmed by the traffic and sound, it attacked the people on the streets.
The injured persons were admitted to Bhawanipatna Government Hospital. Later, one of them was shifted to a hospital in Bhubaneswar as his condition deteriorated, a news agency reported.
Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Nitesh Kumar said attempts by the Forest personnel to tranquilise the bear failed. The animal was still moving in the town when the report was filed.
Police and Forest personnel were trying to track the animal. Efforts to tranquilise the bear will continue and then it will be released in the forest, Kumar said.
In view of the situation, the police told the people not to venture out of houses and close down shops.
