Bahraich (UP), Oct 8 (PTI) Panic gripped a village in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, where eight people have lost their lives in wolf attacks since July 17, when a girl suffered injuries on her neck in a suspected wild animal attack.
While the girl's family claims that she was attacked by a wolf, the forest officials said it was possibly a dog attack and the samples collected from the wound are being sent to Bareilly for examination.
The girl is undergoing treatment at the district hospital. She is out of danger.
On Monday night, Anju and her mother were sleeping in the courtyard of their house Garethi Gurudutt Singh village in Mahsi tehsil when an animal came there and took her away, her father Rampal alleged.
The girl's screams alerted her family members who ran towards her. During this, the animal left her on the ground and ran towards a field, he said.
The girl got scratches on her neck and her father took her to the community health centre, from where she was referred to the district hospital.
"We did not see the animal, but the girl is saying that it was a wolf," Rampal said.
DFO Ajit Pratap Singh, who reached the district hospital after being informed about the attack, denied that it was a wolf.
"It is a very light scratch-like wound, which cannot be caused by a wolf under any circumstances. It's probably a dog. The saliva of the wound is being sent to Bareilly for examination."
Thousands of residents living in 50 villages situated in the Ghaghra river basin under Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich district are living under the fear of wolf attacks.
Since July 17, eight people including seven children had died in the attacks, while about three dozen people were injured in the attacks of wolves or other animals.
According to the forest department, a pack of six man-eating wolves was attacking the villagers. Five of them had been rescued.
The only remaining female wolf of the pack was beaten to death by the villagers of Tamachpur village on the night of October 5.
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