AMRAVATI: Fear gripped Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University campus on Wednesday night after security guards spotted a full-grown tiger on the road near the building of the department of English. The incident happened at around 9.15pm when a class was in progress in the Marathi department.
As a precaution in view of the tiger sighting, the university administration turned back the morning walkers on Thursday while the forest department appealed to local residents to remain alert.
Surrounded by hills on two sides, the university campus is often frequented by leopards, but a tiger was seen for the first time. The two security guards, who were deployed in front of the Marathi department, were asked to stay inside the audio-visual theatre for the night after tiger sighting. Students and teachers of Ambedkar Thought course, who were stranded for long in the classroom, were safely evacuated out of the campus.
Upon getting the information VC Milind Barhate and registrar Avinash Asanare rushed to the spot. “The security guards confirmed they saw the tiger on the road in front of the building of the department of English. It walked on the road for some time, turned back and then disappeared, taking the same route,” said Asanare citing the security guards. He said that the university then informed the forest department.
On December 24 last, a security guard had spotted a leopard cub near the wall of UGC guest house. A team of forest department had rescued the leopard cub and released it in its natural habitat.
