On a misty December morning in 2021, a forest guard and an officer stood just a swipe away from a full-grown male tiger inside a mangrove forest in the Sunderbans.

Water cannon pipes in their hands, they directed the nozzles towards the big cat, unsettling it enough to escape a frontal attack. Hours of hide-and-seek later, the guard fired a dart and tranquillised the animal, ending an operation that had lasted almost a week.

The guard, Amir Chand Mondal, was showered with praise and affection as he retired last week, on July 29, after nearly four decades of service. From a humble beginning as a boatman, he became a veteran of nearly 100 operations to capture or drive away tigers that had strayed into human settlements in the mangrove delta, foresters said.

“Around a dozen among these instances of tigers straying happened during my tenure of four years; he (Mondal) played a key role in each operation,” said Milan Kumar Mandal, who recently retired as divisional forest officer, South 24-Parganas.

Mandal added: “Mondal was one of the most trusted shooters in the Sunderbans. But even without the gun, he was an expert in tracking pugmarks and laying trap cages at strategic locations.”

The December 28, 2021, operation in Kultali was one of the most challenging. The tiger had crossed the Matla river and taken refuge in the dense mangrove forests, becoming almost invisible to the human eye.

Forest guard Amir Chand Mondal being felicitated upon his retirement on July 29 Sourced by The Telegraph

Drones showed the big cat hiding; but it could not be forced out of the thick mangrove cover despite the foresters using everything from crackers to chilli powder.

The water cannons eventually triggered a movement, giving Mondal and another shooter just enough time to fire a dart each at the tiger.

“I learned on the job. Fear for your life is inevitable when you are facing a tiger, but you have to calm your nerves,” Mondal told this newspaper on Sunday.

In 2017, he had been part of a forest team looking for another tiger that had strayed into a human settlement in the Chuprijhara gram panchayat area.

The team split into two groups, the larger scanning the mangrove cover while Mondal and another guard waded through a narrow canal below.

“The tiger was last spotted amid the mangroves; so, the larger group was tasked with scanning the area,” Mondal said.

“The tiger suddenly leapt from one side of the canal to the other. By sheer instinct, we ducked. The stick in my hand brushed against the animal’s belly as it passed over my head.”

Mondal had joined the Kultali beat as a boatman in January 1987. “When I joined, there was no nylon net fencing. Even the beat office compound was unsafe: it had wooden fencing,” he said.

“One day, as I stood near a hand pump with a bucket, I heard dogs barking. Then I heard my colleagues shout. A tiger had sneaked up behind me.”

A colleague beat on a tin drum, distracting the tiger and giving Mondal time to run back to the office.

In December 1994, a tiger from the Sundarban Tiger Reserve strayed into a village in Kultali. After three days, it was found atop a date palm in an open field on Piyali Island.

Subrata Pal Chowdhury, then one of the most prolific tranquillising experts in India, darted the animal. But bringing it down proved a challenge.

A group of people held a large nylon net below the tree. A man climbed up the tree and tied the tiger’s legs with a rope. A powerful tug on the rope from below, and the big cat landed on the net.

But the impact of the fall woke the tiger and it began stirring. Pal Chowdhury had to inject another dart to put it back to sleep.

Mondal, who was later trained by Pal Chowdhury, was part of that operation. As the tiger began twitching after the fall, he helped pull the net tightly around the animal to prevent it causing any harm.

His final operation came last December, when a team drove a tiger back into the Ajmalmari forest from Bhubaneswari village in Kultali block.

Mondal had also been part of a team that went to West Midnapore to capture a tiger that had strayed into the Lalgarh forest in April 2018. The beast evaded capture for a long time before a group of hunters killed it with spears and arrows on April 13.

“It (the tiger’s killing) is one of my biggest regrets. We came within inches of capturing the animal,” he said.

Nilanjan Mallick, director of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, said Mondal’s career and attitude held lessons for all.

“He is one of the best examples of on-the-job training. His dedication was unparalleled,” he said.