Hyderabad, Jan. 29 -- Panic gripped several villages in Telangana's Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district on Thursday morning, January 29, as residents found fresh evidence of a moving tiger in Turkapally mandal, prompting the Forest Department to heighten alerts and intensify monitoring.

Residents of Thirumalapuram, Dharmaram and Srinivasapuram reported seeing tiger pugmarks near the Gram Panchayat office in Thirumalapuram early Thursday and alerted village sarpanch Venkatesh Yadav. Forest officials later reached the site and recorded the footprints as part of ongoing surveillance operations.

The development comes a day after forest personnel observed signs of tiger movement around Dattaipally village, about 14 km from Thirumalapuram, following...