The Sunderbans tiger that had strayed into a village and attacked forest personnel was captured in a trap cage early on Tuesday, forest officials said.

The tiger, an adult male, was released back into the wild on Tuesday afternoon.

The tiger had been hiding in agricultural land near Nagenabad village in the Kultali block of South 24-Parganas. It is suspected to have sneaked out of the Ajmalmari 11 forest compartment on Sunday night.

On Monday morning, the tiger attacked a member of a quick response team who was trying to rescue a villager who had climbed a tree to escape the claws.

Ganesh Shyamal, 36, a member of the team, comprising villagers trained by the forest department to drive away tigers from localities, is undergoing treatment at SSKM Hospital for serious injuries that he suffered trying to stave off the tiger.

“His condition is improving,” a forest official said on Tuesday.

The tiger returned to hiding in the field and eluded a team of foresters for hours. The field was fenced with nylon nets on all four sides and two trap cages with live baits were set up inside. Eventually, around 3.30am, the tiger was captured in one of the cages, said a forest official.

The tiger was taken to a beat office, where vets examined it.

"The canines, eyes and other physical features were examined in detail. It is a full-grown male. The vets certified that the tiger was healthy," said Nisha Goswami, the divisional forest officer of the South 24-Parganas forest division.

Hours later, the tiger was released into a compartment of the Sundarban Tiger Reserve.

"It is quite far from the Ajmalmari forest. The tiger was released at a different location to minimise the possibility of its return to the human habitat," a forest official said.

A mechanised trawler carried the big cat to the edge of a creek during low tide.

As the cage door was lifted, the tiger leapt off the boat into the shallow waters. It took rapid strides and disappeared into the forest.

Nagenabad village is part of the Maipith area, which has seen several tiger-straying incidents this winter. But this is the first time a tiger attacked a human.

Maipith is separated from the forest compartments of Ajmalmari 1, 11 and Herobhanga 9 — all tiger habitats — by the Makri river. Though called a river in local parlance, it is actually a creek.

At several places, the waterbody is reasonably narrow and during low tide, the shallow water is hardly a barrier for animals and humans to cross over, said foresters.

A patch of mangroves on the village side of the riverbank provides an ideal cover for straying tigers. In this case, the tiger ventured out of the mangrove cover and came too close to the village. The field where it was caught is around 700m from the riverbank, said a forest official.

"We have set up around 30 trap cameras in strategic areas near the forests. Some areas are being illuminated. The lights are supposed to act as a deterrent to animals. Patrolling will be scaled up," said DFO Goswami.