A wild bear strayed into Karimnagar on Thursday creating a mild commotion. It entered BSNL telephone exchange office where it was tranquillised by the forest officials after eight long hours of struggle.
Sources said the animal entered the town from Bommakal village via Housing Board Colony. It was spotted by some newspaper vendors early on Thursday morning who tried to chase it away when it entered the BSNL office. The security personnel there closed all the gates and informed about the bear to their higher authorities, while police and forest officials were alerted of the same.
Rushing to the spot, the police and forest officials erected a temporary fence around the office premises to prevent the wild bear from moving out. After eight hours, the animal was tranquillised and shifted to Forest Department.
Earlier, the police officials forced all the shopkeepers to down their shutters and diverted the traffic on the main thoroughfare to carry out the rescue operation. They even disconnected power supply when the bear climbed a tree to escape being caught, as there were live wires near the tree.
District Forest Officer Srinivas said they would leave the animal in the deep forest. Commissioner of Police V.B. Kamalasan Reddy visited the spot and inspected the rescue operation.
