The tiger after being tranquillised. Telegraph picture

The tiger that injured six villagers at Sirsia in West Champaran on Monday was captured and released into the Madanpur forest late on Monday night.

After a three-hour operation, the big cat that had strayed into the village, around 250km northwest of Patna and 16km north on Bettiah, was tranquillised and caged around 7pm on Monday. It was released in the Madanpur forest around midnight.

Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) divisional forest officer Kamaljeet Singh said the tiger was 10 years old and weighed around 200kg. He added that the safe capture and release of the tiger was unprecedented in Bihar.

On Monday morning, the tiger attacked villagers who had gone to relieve themselves in the wheat fields on the outskirts of the village.

But they managed to rush back to the village to raise an alarm.

As the news of the tiger attacks spread, around 50 villagers descended on the area and surrounded the field. Sensing trouble, the tiger pounced on a few villagers and injured two more around 7am.

A team of experts from Patna had arrived at the village on Monday evening to capture the tiger. One of them shot the big cat from the edge of the wheat fields where it was hiding around 6.40pm but a single shot was not enough to put it to sleep.

The tiger was agitated because of the noise made by the villagers gathered around the fields and another dose of tranquilliser was shot.It was finally caged at 7pm.

According to the 2010 census report, the total number of tigers inhabiting the 889sqkm of the VTR was eight.

“The exact number at present, however, would be certain only after the World Wildlife Foundation releases it survey that was started early this year,” said a senior forest department officer.

Singh, the VTR divisional forest officer, said: “The condition of all the injured persons, including tiger tracker Pappu Ram who had been hurt while trying to net the big cat on Monday, is stable.”

He also praised the team of trackers who had man- aged to capture the tiger in a short time.

Chief wildlife warden Bashir Ahmad Khan said: “After regaining the consciousness, the tiger was medically fit. The team of veterinary doctors declared that it was healthy enough to be released in the Madan- pur forest.”