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PILIBHIT: After a fulfilling weekend, the family of 45-year-old Bhole Ram, a farmer who tills his one acre of land with four sons and a daughter, had wished each other goodnight before they went off to bed. But it turned out to be a harrowing night. The family was jolted out of sleep at about 1 am - with the blood-curdling roar of a tigress that had made itself comfortable in the attic.

There was an open doorway which led to the attic of Ram's house. The tigress, fully grown, had strayed from the Pilibhit tiger reserve barely 3 km away .

Soon the family ran out screaming and seeking for help. Their neighbours then informed the superintendent of police and the conservator of forest .

VK Singh , the conservator of forest ( Bareilly circle), said the tigress, about three years old, was spotted by locals near Pandari and Bakainia villages, adjacent to Vidhipur. "The department had sent two elephants to comb the area on Sunday but she remained elusive. In the evening hours, the tigress might have sneaked into Bhole Ram's house in Vidhipur through an open doorway."

Singh said the team managed to cause a commotion to force the animal out of the attic and down the staircase. They blocked the exit points, trapped the big cat there by throwing a net over it.

