The online posts, accompanied with pictures of a tiger, claim that the forest officials have confirmed that a tiger has strayed to Kalleli region from the nearby forest. Konni: Social media reports about a prowling tiger has spread panic among the locals at Kalleli village, about 10 km from Konni, in Pathanamthitta district, though forest officials dismissed the news as baseless and termed it as a hoax.
The online posts, accompanied with pictures of a tiger, claim that the forest officials have confirmed that a tiger has strayed to Kalleli region from the nearby forest. The rumour spread as forest officials were initially reluctant to confirm or deny the incident.
Meanwhile, several people are sharing the reports and pictures in social media, including Facebook. The caption of one such picture, reads, “The Tiger that was spotted near a check post at Kalleli.” The post even claimed that the picture was recorded in a camera installed by the forest authorities.
In fact, no cameras have been put up near the check post, though there are as many as 30 newly installed cameras in the region. These cameras were installed after a youth was killed in a tiger attack in nearby Appopanthottu near Kokkothodu. This incident could be the trigger for the fear among the people.
The Naduvathumozhi range officer M Rahim Kutty dismissed the news circulating in the social media as hoax.
He said that such reports are putting unwanted pressure on forest officials and creating fear in the mind of people. He said, if needed, a complaint would be lodged with the cyber police against those spreading fake news.
