'Operation Bhediya' Launched To Curb 'Wolf Terror' In UP's Bahraich. Here's What's Happening

As many as nine people were killed in the last 45 days as wolves unleash terror in 30 villages of Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh.

Wolves have unleashed their terror in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich as the pack of canines killed nine people in the last 45 days including women and children. A sense of fear prevailed among people as around 30 villages came under the attack. Women remain indoors with their children while men are forced to patrol their neighbourhoods at night. 

Some families have even sent their children to their relatives' places in other towns. 

Two people, a woman and a child, fell prey to the wolves in the last four days taking the total number of people killed in the attack to 9. Additionally, 35 people have been wounded by the canines including women, children, and senior citizens. 

The first attack took place on March 10 and has since continued as latest as Tuesday. To mitigate the crisis, several teams of the forest department have been deployed at various places but haven't had any success yet. 

According to forest officials, the animals come out of their natural habitat during the rainy season due to waterlogging. 

Operation Bhediya 

Stepping up the ante, forest conservator Sanjay Srivastava said that 15 teams of the forest department have been deployed in the area under 'Operation Bhediya'. 

Under this operation, efforts are on to catch the wolves through combing with the help of drone cameras, infrared cameras, and thermal imaging cameras. A cage has also been installed along with a net to contain wolves entering into localities. 

Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Mahasi, which comes under Bahraich district, Sureshwar Singh said he spoke with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who said that the animals can be shot dead if they are cannibals. The CM has also sought a report from the forest department and instructed them to provide assistance to those affected. 

Drones have captured the movement of the wolves and people of that village have been alerted, said Divisional Forest Officer Ajeet Pratap Singh. "Our drones have captured the movement of a wolve near the village. We have alerted our people in the village... We have spotted two wolves in our drone nearly 100 metres away from our location. We went to the spot and noticed footsteps and hence it was confirmed that two wolves have passed from here...," Singh told ANI. 

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has also been contacted over the issue. 

So far, four wolves have been caught and the search is on for the other two. 

(With inputs from Akhilesh)