Eight persons were detained by the Assam police on Friday for allegedly injuring a Bengal tiger, whose “vision in both eyes” have been affected by the heavy stone-pelting resorted by the crowd to drive it away.

The female tiger, around three years old, had strayed into human habitation from the Kamakhya Reserve Forest, an extension of the Kaziranga National Park, on November 18.

Following which the local Kaliabor administration had imposed a curfew from 4pm to 9am in seven villages for the safety of the local populace.

On November 20, a group of villagers pelted stones and bricks at the tiger while it was trying to cross the Kollong river. The tiger suffered severe injuries on its left thigh, head and both eyes, which affected its vision, a forest official treating the tiger at the Kaziranga Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre said.

An eye specialist will examine the tiger on Saturday morning but from all indications “its vision is gone and the tiger can not be released in the wild even after its recovery”.

A forest ranger and an activist lodged separate complaints with the Jakhalabandha Police in Nagaon district with video footage of the attack, leading to raids at the homes of 12 suspected accused on Thursday night.”

He added: “They were brought to the police station for interrogation of whom eight were under detention for “further questioning”.

Police said they were still being questioned. When asked whether they have been arrested, a forest official said they are likely to be arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The attack on the tiger follows three incidents of tiger attack on humans in the periphery of Orang National Park and Tiger Reserve in Darrang district over the past fortnight.

Forest officials said they were creating awareness about how people living in the vicinity of a forest should respond when they sight a tiger.