Residents of Ramnagar Kalan and several nearby villages, located along the Sharda river in Majhgain range of Dudhwa buffer zone woke up on Tuesday morning to witness the errant big cat, tranquilised and encaged. The big cat had allegedly killed three persons in the area since May 4 - two of them in Ramnagar Kalan.A tigress, which killed three persons, was captured after tranquilising it in Majhgain range of Dudhwa buffer zone on Tuesday. (HT Photo)Early on Tuesday morning, when the Dudhwa veterinarian Dr Daya Shankar tranquilised a tigress, which led to its capture, the entire Dudhwa buffer zone monitoring team including range officer Ankit Kumar Singh, a dozen foresters and forest guards heaved a collective sigh of relief on a week-long successful operation.The tigress had unleashed terror in Ramnagar area since May 4, when it had attacked a 14-year old Sandip, when he had gone to his fields along the Sharda river.However, the situation worsened when the tigress killed an elderly farmer Matadin, 60, on June 14, who was at work in his field in the same area along the Sharda river.Locals created an uproar over the two killings in a month and demanded immediate capture of the errant big cat.Under mounting public pressure, as the forest department was finalising its strategy to capture the big cat, it attacked yet another woman, Kokila, 40, in her fields in Khalepurwa, about two km away from Ramnagar Kalan in the same Majhgain range.Ankit Kumar Singh, range officer of Majhgain range told Hindustan Times that the pugmarks and camera traps established that the same tiger was involved in these human casualties.Dr Daya Shankar, who also carried out the big cat’s medical examination, told Hindustan Times that open crop fields along the Sharda river provided a safe shelter to the big cat while posing challenges to the monitoring teams.He added that on Monday, thermal drones scanning the area captured the tigress moving along the Dubha-Ramnagar Kalan village corridor, following which live baits were placed to lure the animal, and round the clock monitoring of its movements was ensured.Singh said that at around 4am on Tuesday morning, the tigress was lured to the live bait, placed in Ramnagar Kalan area, where it had made its first kill.Taking no chance, the tigress was allowed to feed on the live bait for about an hour and then Dr Shankar shot a dart in its body and encaged the tigress.It was revived within 15 minutes of the operation and put into a cage before being carried to Majhgain range headquarters for further proceedings.Ice-slabs and coolers were deployed in the cage to save the tranquilised tigress from hyperthermia, sources said.Deputy director, Dudhwa buffer zone, Kirti Chaudhary, while confirming the capture, told Hindustan Times that “after tranquilisation, the big cat was brought to range headquarters where veterinarian Dr Daya Shankar, during his examination, found it to be a female of about four years.”She added “the tigress was found to be healthy without any deformity and fit to be released in the wild in its natural habitat.”She said “the tigress will be released as per the instructions from the competent authorities.”