A sloth bear that killed two villagers and left a policeman fighting for his life was beaten to death by villagers in Venkatnagar village in Anuppur district on Saturday.
So violent was the animals attack that Madanlal Yadav died on the spot in a field while Ravi Yadav who tried to rescue him died on way to hospital.
When constable Sudhir Singh went to the spot,barely a few hundred metres from the Chhattisgarh border,the animal attacked him as well before villagers rescued him.
Relatives and villagers then killed the animal out of fear and anger and unsuccessfully tried to set it afire.
DFO,Anuppur,T S Chaturvedi said sloth bear was an endangered species under the Wildlife Protection Act and its killing could invite a jail term of up to 10 years.
The forest department registered a case against unknown persons as naming villagers would have aggravated the situation. The victims would get a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each. Forest officials said there were not many cases of man-animal conflict in the region.


