LUCKNOW, Sept. 19 -- A tiger scare in Sitapur turned out to be a hoax after a family admitted their 18-year-old daughter, reported attacked and taken away by the big cat, had in fact eloped with her boyfriend. The drama unfolded in the Rathaura Purwa village under Machreta police station limits of Misrikh tehsil, where the family resides.

A woman, Prema Devi, along with her elder daughter Damini, staged a dramatic scene -- rolling on the ground, wailing, and even fainting -- to convince police and villagers that her younger daughter, Kamini, had been taken away by a tiger when they had gone out on Thursday morning.

Officials said that taking the matter seriously, police and forest officials deployed a team of 600 villagers and two drone...