Belpahar: A woman and her daughter were critically injured in a bear attack at Junadihi College Pada in ward no-2 of this town in Jharsuguda district in the wee hours of Monday.
Anita Meher, 37, and her daughter Rashmi Meher, 16, were plucking flowers near a water tank close to their house when the bear, which had strayed into the area, attacked them. The animal had badly mauled them by the time locals came to their rescue. Locals admitted them to the TRL Hospital.
Municipality executive officer Lokanath Tiwari met the two at the hospital and enquired about their health condition. Later, he apprised the district collector of the bear straying into the town.
The incident has left the people panicked as a few years back an elephant had killed two persons after straying into the town. Locals claimed that the loss of green cover and lack of food and water in the nearby forests have forced the wild animals to stray into human habitations.