The sighting of a pack of wolves in Mehsi Tehsil here has once again stoked fear among the local residents who were beginning to feel relieved after the capture of five man-eater wolves who killed eight people in the area.

While the villagers claimed that the pack included the sixth and the last remaining man-eater wolf, who is believed to be lame, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ajit Pratap Singh rejected the assertion.

The pack of six wolves had terrorised the residents of several villages in Bahraich as they killed eight people, including seven children, and injured more than 20 since mid-July. Five of them were captured as part of the ‘Operation Bhediya’ campaign while efforts were on to catch the sixth wolf.

The four wolves were seen near BJP MLC Padamsen Chaudhary's farmhouse in Magla village on Wednesday evening. The spot is just five km away from Sisayya Churamani village which has seen the maximum wolf attacks.

Talking to PTI, Chaudhary said, "The villagers saw a pack of four wolves in the mango orchard of my farmhouse at around 4 pm. One of them was lame." "There is a den of wolves near this place. Due to rain and rising water level of rivers, wild animals often come out," he added.

However, DFO Singh said it does not seem that the new pack had the man-eater wolf and cautioned against any efforts to capture them.

"There has been information about wolves being seen in some villages of the Ramgaon area of Mehsi tehsil. However, till the time it is not certain that the man-eater wolf was among them, any efforts made to catch them can create a new problem as they might start attacking humans," he said.

Singh said an officer was sent to the spot and pugmarks of wolves were found. But from their activities, it does not seem that the man-eater wolf was a part of the pack, he asserted.

"We are keeping a close eye on the area where the wolves were seen on Wednesday. It is only after an investigation that we can say with certainty what type of wolves these were," he said.

Meanwhile, having tried cages and diversion techniques, which led to the capturing of the five wolves, the forest officials are now using 'wolf howling' -- playing a pre-recorded sound of a female wolf's cries through a loudspeaker to lure the sixth man-eater wolf into a trap.

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