The animal looks rather like a cat. It attacks people in an instant and vanishes, hiding in a forest thicket within moments. It is called a fishing cat (mechho bagh). For fear of it, people in one village are shutting their doors with their children before dusk. This is Sadargarh village in Sunamganj Sadar upazila, where 10 people, including children and elderly people, are being treated in hospital after being bitten by the fishing cat.

The injured, all from the village, are Muslima Begum (13), Akikul Islam (45), Sakib Hossain (4), Ratma Begum (12), Hossain Ahmad (4), Rony (14), Junad (4) and Golam Montak (7).

Inquiries on Wednesday (22 September) found that they were injured in attacks by the fishing cat at various times from Sunday morning in the Sunamganj village. For the past three days, once evening falls, the fishing cat has attacked people on the road or entered homes to attack them. The whole village is living in fear.

Villagers said Sadargarh has several fish-farming ponds and many trees large and small, and the Chalti river runs beside the village. People have been terrified since the fishing cat's attacks began three days ago. At 8pm last Sunday it attacked madrasa student Muslima Begum (13) as she was going from a neighbouring room to her own room at home. It scratched her legs in several places with its sharp claws and bit into her clothes. When people came running at her screams, the fishing cat vanished in an instant. She was then admitted to the Sadar hospital. At dawn on Monday, Akikul Islam (45), his son Sakib Hossain (4), his daughter Ratma Begum (12) and Golam Montak were seriously injured in attacks by the fishing cat.

Akikul Islam said: "In the morning, when my son Sakib went to the next room to look for his shoes, the fishing cat grabbed him. At his screams I jumped up and tried to chase it away. Then it attacked me too and bit me on both arms in several places. When I fainted, my daughter came running, and it bit her too and scratched her legs with its sharp claws. Locals then took our whole family to the Sadar hospital."

He added that the fishing cat then attacked another child, Hossain Ahmad (4), biting him on the arms and legs. At night Rony (14) and Junad (4) were injured by its bites. All of them were treated at the Sadar hospital.

Villagers said that Golam Montak, a class five student, and two others were injured in attacks by the fishing cat on Tuesday morning.

Harunur Rashid, a teacher at Sadargarh Government Primary School, said several children and elderly people in the village had been injured by the fishing cat. Because of the fear, student attendance at the school has fallen somewhat over the past three days. He said the villagers' fear will not go away unless the fishing cat is found.

Villager Tanvir Ahmad Taslim said the fishing cat looks like a cat but can leap very high. It attacks anyone and vanishes in an instant. "Before evening we check inside our houses carefully and shut the doors, and in the morning the whole village goes out together to look for the fishing cat," he said.

Sunamganj forest range officer Choyon Broto Chowdhury said many things come from India along the Chalti river during floods, and this fishing cat may also have been carried in by the flash-flood water. Because it cannot find a safe place, it behaves aggressively towards the people where it takes shelter. In English it is called a "fishing cat". The animal looks rather like a cat, with a striped body, and eats fish and meat.

He added that they had heard about the matter from the villagers and would go to the spot and take action quickly.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.