Ranchi, April 24: Four people were injured when a wild bear attacked them at Lathgaon village in Gumla district, about 132km from the state capital, this morning.

The injured — Mohammed Nasir (60), Sukru Oroan (35), Bande Oroan (55) and Narayan Singh (40) — have been admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and Sisai primary health centre.

Nasir was on his way to a neighbouring village to buy cattle, the bear appeared from nowhere and attacked him. “I was on my way to finalise a deal when the bear attacked. I somehow managed to struggle free and ran for dear life. However, my right hand was badly hurt,” he said.

The next incident took place a kilometre away. Sukru was harvesting onions in his field when he saw the bear. Before he could do anything, the animal attacked him and the struggle continued for over 15 minutes.

Sukru was saved by villagers who came to rescue him with traditional weapons. Scratches and bite marks were found on Sukru’s body and they took him to a health centre first. He was later referred to RIMS.

The wild bear attacked two others barely 500m away. Bande and Narayan were also working in their fields when the animal pounced on them.

Both managed to escape though not without injuries. The villagers, after coming to know about the incidents, chased the bear, which disappeared into a forest, about 5km from the Lathgaon.

Principal chief forest conservator (wildlife) A.K. Singh said that such incidents were quite common because there were many bears in the forests around Gumla.