Bandipur Fire: Two arrested for allegedly igniting fire 

Team Udayavani, Mar 4, 2019, 10:01 AM IST

Bengaluru: The forest officials of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve Forest arrested two more people for allegedly lighting a fire that burned down almost 10,000 hectares of forest and caused irreparable damage to the wildlife.

As per the sources, the duo had lit a fire in order to stop tigers from entering into their village as they were being spotted in the area for a month or so. Both have been arrested and sent to judicial custody.

Forest Watchers of the Department had seen Both of them running away from one of the four places from where the fire had started and they were on the run since the incident took place, informed sources.

Thousands of acres of land in the Bandipur tiger reserve were gutted in a fire over the last four days, creating fear about the safety of wild animals. Foresters, along with hundreds of volunteers, made a vain bid to douse the fire that had spread to dangerous proportions. Finally, the fire was brought under control by the coordinated efforts of the Indian Air Force, the district fire brigade, forest guards and locals.