Nuapada: The alleged presence of a tiger near temple at Haldi village in Khariar Road forest range here has triggered panic among local residents.

A villager spotted the tiger near the temple on Wednesday afternoon, when he had gone to relieve himself, and informed the others. Many other villagers later sighted the animal near the temple.

The presence of the animal has instilled a sense of insecurity among the villagers after another tiger had ventured into the village and snatched a four-year-old boy, who was sleeping with his parents in the veranda of their home, in May last year. His skull and bones were later recovered from the nearby forest.

Later, the forest department had captured two leopards - a male and a female - from near the village in July and August 2017 and sent the animals to Nandankanan zoo.

Despite that, the villagers insisted that there were more tigers in the forest. As a measure of security, the forest department has made 10ft-high barbed wire fence around the forest surrounding the village.

Timan Pandey, who first spotted the tiger, said the villagers had repeatedly told forest department officials about the presence of more tigers. "We had informed the forest department about the tigers on several occasions. But they are not taking us into confidence. After capturing the leopards, the department also reduced patrolling in the village."

"There is a fencing to prevent wild animals from entering the village, but some spaces have been left open to enable movement. Villagers are panic stricken after yesterday's incident that confirmed the presence of the tiger."

A forest official, however, assured that there was no need for the villagers to panic. He also said that the "tiger" that the villagers saw could be a leopard - the offspring of the two leopards that were captured last year.

Khariar Road forest range officer Dambarudhar Sahu said officials had talked to the villagers about the matter. "The villagers don't need to panic. We have put up barbed wire fencings on most parts of the forest and will complete the work remaining work shortly. Our staff members also are camping in the village and patrolling it," Sahu said.